--- title: "RSSB2724-T1132 Development of Supplementary Freight Container Gauges" ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-166c2b8e-0ba8-40c0-bc9e-2e01e05930cb" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-166c2b8e-0ba8-40c0-bc9e-2e01e05930cb" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-166c2b8e-0ba8-40c0-bc9e-2e01e05930cb.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-166c2b8e-0ba8-40c0-bc9e-2e01e05930cb.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "RAIL SAFETY AND STANDARDS BOARD LIMITED" published: "2018-12-10" --- # RSSB2724-T1132 Development of Supplementary Freight Container Gauges Buyer: RAIL SAFETY AND STANDARDS BOARD LIMITED Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-b5fd17-166c2b8e-0ba8-40c0-bc9e-2e01e05930cb [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-166c2b8e-0ba8-40c0-bc9e-2e01e05930cb) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-166c2b8e-0ba8-40c0-bc9e-2e01e05930cb.json) ## Summary The Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited is inviting tenders for the project titled "RSSB2724-T1132 Development of Supplementary Freight Container Gauges," located in London, England. The procurement is currently in the tender stage, with the deadline for submissions set for 21 December 2018. This open procedure aims to assess and potentially revise existing freight container gauges, and it carries an estimated contract value of £120,000, with a minimum budget of £110,000. The contract period is scheduled to start on 7 January 2019 and end on 29 November 2019, with the relevant industry classified under pressure gauges and research and experimental development services. This tender presents a significant opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) focused on innovation within the transport and logistics sector. Businesses engaged in engineering, transportation solutions, or research and development related to freight systems would be ideally positioned to compete for this contract. With the freight transport market undergoing transformations, companies that can offer creative solutions for enhancing gauge usage and logistical efficiency will find themselves well-suited for participation. ## Notice 3 Background The total amount of freight in 2017-18 fell to 75m tonnes, the lowest since 1984-85, a 5.6% decrease on 2016-17. Additionally, since a ten-year high of 22.71b net tonne km in 2013-14, the amount of freight moved on the rail network has steadily declined by 25% to 16.95b net tonne km in 2017-18 . In part, this can be attributed to declining coal usage , which accounted for approx. 35% of the total amount of freight moved in 2013-14. Despite the overall decline, international, domestic intermodal and other commodities grew by approx. 21%, 4%, 8% and 25% between 2013-14 and 2017-18, respectively, and represent almost 80% of the total freight moved in 2017-18. Therefore, it can be observed that the landscape of the freight market is shifting from its traditional composition and a response is needed for the community to retain its competitiveness in comparison to other transport modes. W7, W8, W9 (including W9Plus), W10 (including W10A) & W12 are the standard gauges used for container/ wagon combinations. However, it has been observed that these do not align with some common Load Unit/Wagon combinations that are used in various, and in some cases, expanding markets within the industry e.g. international and domestic intermodal. Consequently, many emerging traffic opportunities can only be authorised through the 'out of gauge loads' process. This entails the analysis of the Load Unit/Wagon combination against every structure along the route where the traffic is deemed to be out-of-gauge and can take several weeks to undertake. Furthermore, an out-of-gauge load can only be authorised for a maximum of one year, so the analysis must be repeated annually, regardless of whether the underlying data has changed. An assessment has identified that the existing container gauges could allow more traffic to use routes cleared to the gauge if they were defined differently. Structures on the route are generally cleared to the top corner of the gauge, potentially leaving additional space adjacent to that corner unused. It is therefore possible that revised container gauges could be developed to make use of this additional space. In turn, this could facilitate a significant increase in the number of existing Load Unit/Wagon combinations that can be used on routes without needing to modify infrastructure. For instance, it is estimated that there are about 200 Load Unit/Wagon (5 load unit widths, about 40 wagon types) combinations available in the current W7 Gauge which provides for only 14 of those 200 combinations (7% of all total combinations utilised). Revising the gauge would potentially provide for 146 combinations (73% of all total combinations utilised), that does not require infrastructure clearance work. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/bc3c169f-ff84-4622-a9d4-225b4b03442b | | Notice type | Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Open procedure (below threshold) | | Tender suitability | SME | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 10 Dec 2018 | | Submission deadline | 21 Dec 2018 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 7 Jan 2019 - 29 Nov 2019 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £120,000 | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | RAIL SAFETY AND STANDARDS BOARD LIMITED | | Locality | LONDON | | Post town | Central London | | Postcode | EC2M 2RB | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLI London | | ITL 2 | TLI4 Inner London - East | | ITL 3 | TLI43 Haringey and Islington | | Local authority | Islington | | Electoral ward | Bunhill | | Westminster constituency | Islington South and Finsbury | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 38 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses) - 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services ### Codes - 38423100 - Pressure gauges - 73100000 - Research and experimental development services ## Release History - 10 Dec 2018 at 08:39 - TenderAmendment - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/bc3c169f-ff84-4622-a9d4-225b4b03442b - 3 Dec 2018 at 10:20 - TenderAmendment - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/bc3c169f-ff84-4622-a9d4-225b4b03442b - 26 Nov 2018 at 14:20 - TenderAmendment - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/bc3c169f-ff84-4622-a9d4-225b4b03442b - 20 Nov 2018 at 10:37 - TenderAmendment - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/bc3c169f-ff84-4622-a9d4-225b4b03442b - 12 Nov 2018 at 14:29 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/bc3c169f-ff84-4622-a9d4-225b4b03442b ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/bc3c169f-ff84-4622-a9d4-225b4b03442b 10th December 2018 - Opportunity notice on Contracts Finder - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/f37d2ff1-8d84-4009-b715-5019c91d53f3 Commercial Pricing Schedule - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/57b11e2e-c0fe-462b-abc1-33c9c7bcfa82 RSSB2724 -T1132 Development of Supplementary Freight Container Gauges - I.T.T - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/ea5c42f2-28e0-4124-b734-347d25422cc8 1 11 Boilerplate Services Contract RSSB Master - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/43f911dc-97cd-43cc-97e9-d2dcc4f4f045 RSSB2724 -T1132 Development of Supplementary Freight Container Gauges - Tender Question and Answer - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/ea58e311-e49d-4b5b-ad9d-9e3501f48a19 RSSB2724 -T1132 Development of Supplementary Freight Container Gauges - Tender Question and Answer -26th November - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/e7793bb5-adf7-4b1e-8a15-4f5739ea63f4 RSSB2724 -T1132 Development of Supplementary Freight Container Gauges - Tender Question and Answer -28th November ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-166c2b8e-0ba8-40c0-bc9e-2e01e05930cb. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-166c2b8e-0ba8-40c0-bc9e-2e01e05930cb.json.