Published date: 13 September 2018

Last edited date: 13 September 2018

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Closing: 18 September 2018

Contract summary

Industry

  • Research and development consultancy services - 73200000

Location of contract

EC2M 2RB

Value of contract

£130,000 to £140,000

Procurement reference

RSSB2726 - T1143 Devices to guide derailed trains

Published date

13 September 2018

Closing date

18 September 2018

Contract start date

1 October 2018

Contract end date

31 May 2019

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (below threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements below the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

Description

RAIB have noted a sequence of derailment incidents over many years where the lateral excursion of the lead vehicle has been limited by engagement between vehicle and track features that were not intended for that purpose.

The most recent of these was in September 2016 at Watford Junction where the right-hand rail engaged between the traction motor and gearbox housings of the derailed vehicle and limited the deviation from the track and as a consequence reduced the severity of the impact with an oncoming vehicle.

RAIB have made recommendations to consider the use of mechanical devices or structures to guide derailed trains with the latest recommendation in recommendation 3 of the Watford report:

"3. The intent of this recommendation is to identify and assess the effectiveness of design features that provide guidance to trains when derailed, so limiting the deviation of trains from the track and reducing the risk of collision with trains approaching on other lines. This could be achieved by the retention or strengthening of features already forming part of the bogie structure, or infrastructure measures such as guard rails. It is also intended that the learning from research in this area is used to derive meaningful design requirements.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), in conjunction with RSSB, should:
a. commission research into the ways in which guidance can be provided to derailed trains. This should include consideration of:
I. how the design of bogies and bogie mounted equipment can assist in limiting the lateral deviation of passenger trains during a derailment;
II. practice in other countries (eg Japan);
III. how specially installed infrastructure features can achieve the same effect at high risk locations;
IV. potential design requirements for the retention or enhancement of such features on new trains or infrastructure; and
V. the potential benefits and drawbacks of such measures.
If such features, whether existing or additional, are shown to have a net beneficial effect in reducing risk by limiting lateral deviation, RDG/RSSB should:
b. share this information with the relevant Standards Committees; and
c. record and disseminate the design requirements with a view to their incorporation into future standards."

Previous similar recommendations made have been reviewed by industry through the Rolling Stock Standards Committee and concluded that such devices were unlikely to be practical or effective. The purpose of this study is to provide a broader, more comprehensive study with objective outputs to provide a definitive position on derailment mitigation.
4 Objectives
Devices to guide derailed trains can be split into two categories, rolling stock mounted solutions and infrastructure mounted solutions. It is proposed that the project is split into three work packages; the first two to address the two categories separately and the third to bring the findings together.

More information

Attachments

About the buyer

Contact name

R&D Business Partner

Address

THE HELICON 1 SOUTH PLACE
LONDON
EC2M2RB
England

Telephone

020 3142 5300

Email

Shareditt@rssb.co.uk