SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Egypt- Railway Traffic Management System
- Notice Date
- 4/10/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- United States Trade and Development Agency, USTDA, USTDA, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, C/O US TDA 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, Arlington, VA, 22209-3901, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-0621029B
- Response Due
- 5/15/2007
- Archive Date
- 5/30/2007
- Description
- POC Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, Arlington, VA 22209-3901, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT CONTRACTS OFFICE; PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PLACE: Mr. Mohamed Nabil, Minister's Advisor, Ministry of Transport, Government of Egypt, El Nasr Road, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Phone: +(202)-262-8880, Fax: +(202)-262-8880 Email: mnabil@mot.gov.eg. Egypt: Railway Traffic Management System. The Grantee, Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, acting through the Ministry of Transport (MoT) invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to provide Technical Assistance related to the development of a Railway Traffic Management System for the Egyptian National Railways (ENR). The Technical Assistance would identify the best traffic management solution for ENR and would design a Traffic Management Master Plan for its implementation. The Technical Assistance would also assist with the creation of an independent railway safety oversight and enforcement authority to monitor ENR's compliance with safe operating practices. Railway safety and security have become immediate concerns of the MoT as a result of the recent passenger train car crash outside Cairo that caused dozens of casualties and hundreds of injuries in September 2006. This latest accident was the third one that year and it has highlighted the country's urgent need to upgrade its safety and security infrastructure throughout the national railway system in order to minimize the risk of future accidents. As part of its response to these terrible accidents, the Government of Egypt (GoE) pledged to invest $873 million to address problems in the ENR and received another $600 million in loans. Additionally, a development plan for ENR has been discussed between the GoE and the World Bank. It is scheduled to be applied between 2007 and 2008 and will be funded by a $720 million World Bank loan. Egypt has the world's second oldest railway system after Great Britain. The entire system includes more than 5,000 km of track lines, but only 15% of the lines utilize electrified signaling systems. The rest rely on manual signaling, which is both outdated and ineffective. The railway system relies upon 700 locomotives, 75 % of which are more than 25 years old. For a system that carries 1.5 million passengers a day and 12 million tons of freight each year, it is clearly in need of significant improvements. A key finding of the MoT and ENR officials during the course of their post-accident investigations was that a critical component of ENR's signaling system was not working properly. During five different tests the signaling system, which is more than 25 years old, failed to indicate when trains were required to stop or slow down. Additionally, Egypt does not have a National Railway System Safety Plan, nor an independent regulatory body (like the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration) responsible for monitoring compliance with safe operating practices and enforcing safety regulations, up to and including shutting down the railway. Additionally, ENR does not have a comprehensive traffic management system to optimize the safe movement of trains across the ENR network. The lack of a system-wide traffic management system also prevents the attainment of business objectives, such as on time arrival and departure of trains and the minimization of fuel expenses and other operating costs. The Terms of Reference for this Technical Assistance includes the following tasks: Task 1: Data Gathering and Analysis Task 2: Design an ENR Traffic Management Solution and Action Plan Task 3: Site Visits and Public Information Strategy Task 4: Analysis of Current Traffic Management Safety Policy and Practices in the Egyptian Railway Sector Task 5: Design Traffic Management Components of ENR Safety Program and Independent Oversight and Enforcement Agency Task 6: Master Traffic Management Plan Task 7: Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment Task 8: Final Report The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $600,000 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission report are available from USTDA, at 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, Arlington, VA 22209-3901. To request the RFP in PDF format, please go to: https://www.ustda.gov/USTDA/FedBizOpps/RFP/rfpform.asp. Requests for a mailed hardcopy version of the RFP may also be faxed to the IRC, USTDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want USTDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to USTDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to USTDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, USTDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling USTDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this USTDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under USTDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the USTDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the USTDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the USTDA grant amount. Details of USTDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00PM, LOCAL TIME, May 15, 2007 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.
- Record
- SN01270470-W 20070412/070410221621 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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