RVNL invites tender for supply and installation of mobile emergency interlocking arrangement for stations in Southern Railway

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) has invited bids for Modernization of S&T workshop at Podanur – supply, installation, testing & commissioning of mobile emergency interlocking (SIL-4) arrangement of a typical 4 Road Station in Southern Railway.

  • Tender Reference Number: RVNL_MAS_PTJ_SnT_WS_OT-02
  • Name of Work: Modernization of S&T workshop at Podanur – supply, installation, testing & commissioning of mobile emergency interlocking (SIL-4) arrangement of a typical 4 Road Station in Southern Railway.
  • Approx. Estimated Cost: INR 3.03 Crores
  • EMD: INR 606900/-
  • Period Of Work: 06 Months + (24 Months Warranty/Maintenance Period)
  • Document Download / Sale Start Date: 29th April, 2023
  • Document Download / Sale End Date: 22nd May, 2023
  • Bid Submission Start Date: 16th May, 2023
  • Bid Submission End Date: 22nd May, 2023
  • Bid Opening Date: 22nd May, 2023

Scope of Work:

  • In Southern Railway there are more than 100 stations, Electronic Interlocking has been provided as on date and further as per policy all the stations will be replaced with EI only.
  • Although the stations are provided in hot standby configuration of Electronic Interlocking, it is observed that during failures the rectification of the system requires manufacturer intervention.
  • This prolongs the punctuality losses on account of signal interlocking failures for 24-48 Hrs. or even more, resulting in public inconvenience and a huge monetary loss for Railways.
  • To overcome this problem, there is need to keep some system which will be readily available with divisional/ADSTE HQ/Signal Supervisor HQ from where it can be shifted to incident spot within short duration and plugged with the prewired standby arrangement at the respective station and NI working can be given within no time till the time of final restoration of EI took place.
  • The basic purpose of this system is to keep the trains in operation on the straight main lines with the Point clamped and locked in Normal position, with few of the existing tracks, signals etc. working as per the typical Emergency SIP as well as Emergency working instructions issued by division.
  • The minimum essentials interlocking will be achieved by application logic based on bit chart provided by Southern Railways It is envisaged that in the event of a contingency, when the main interlocking for a certain station fails, the Mobile Emergency Interlocking system should be developed using SIL-4 Safety Controller COTS Modules platform, which should will carry out the minimum interlocking necessary for passing trains in the straight UP and DN lines, with signals.
  • The system should be interfaced with the outdoor arrangement of the existing station for reading field inputs or driving signals and shall be operated from an independent Portable Laptop Computer displaying the Station Yard Mimic for the Mobile Emergency Interlocking similar to EI systems.
  • The interlocking and operator VDU shall comply with the approved Application Logic, Bit Chart and Operator Console design provided by Railways for different stations.
  • The Mobile Emergency Interlocking system should be developed using SIL-4 Safety Controller Railway COTS Modules, such that it will be possible to download more or less similar other Application Logic for any other station, having almost the same or a smaller number of Vital I/O’s (as per its bit chart).
  • Likewise, it should also be possible to load that station’s Operator VDU program in the computer, for that station, to start operating the Mobile Emergency Interlocking for that station.
  • Necessary provisions shall be made in each system to load upto 50 different Application Logics and connect with 50 different Operator VDU systems, so that each division (subsequently each SSE/Sig/In charge ) can keep the same ready along with the emergency application logic program and HMI.
  • In case of a failure just the software can be downloaded in the system and deployed to the failure site for immediate resuming of skeletal signalling to keep the trains moving with signals in a straight line. Full proof arrangements shall be provided to ensure that matching pairs Application Logic and Operator VDU Software for a particular station is loaded in the system before it starts working.
  • This system should intend to keep the trains running at caution speed (30 KMPH or more) as approved by the competent authority using the actual signals and detection of the points.
  • Point operations have been kept beyond the scope of this Mobile Emergency Interlocking arrangement in order to keep the systems simple. In case operation of Points is planned, the same may be tried later upon Railway after administrative Approval.
  • The system design should be such that it should be kept compact and portable with Pluggable Connectors so that the Main interlocking can be disconnected and the Emergency system can be put into action promptly.

Phase Activity Plan for the Mobile Emergency Interlocking System:

First Phase:

  • In the first phase Firm shall Supply, Install and Commission 2 sets of the Mobile Emergency Interlocking system, based on the approved Application Logic of the Emergency Interlocking arrangement provided by Railways. This shall be governed by the accepted rates quoted against different items of SCHEDULE – A.
  • The duly compiled and downloadable vital Application Logic and the Front-End HMI of the Emergency Interlocking arrangement for 2 stations shall be provided to the tenderer in 3 Nos. DVD’s or 3 Nos. USB Flash Drive for use by Railways.
  • Firm shall provide hand-on Installation and Maintenance Guidance to the staff of Southern Railway S&T Workshop, Podanur to independently setup and use the systems at stations  whenever required.
  • The FAT for the Emergency Interlocking arrangement shall be carried out by the Firm at Southern Railway S&T Workshop, Podanur premises and shall be witnessed and accepted by authorized representatives of PCSTE/SR and CWM/ PTJ Workshop.
  • Details of the System Architecture, Manufacturing Bill of Materials stating individual Item Description, Manufacturer’s Part / Serial Nos., Module Level Technical Literatures of used  parts and Safe Railway Architecture Guidelines of Safety COTS used, as required for building the safe systems, shall be handed over to the Railway as per SCHEDULE – A (Item 7) of this agreement.
  • The details provided must be sufficient to procure the items from the COTS OEM’s distributors/authorised after.

Second Phase:

  • After the successful completion of the full supply under SCHEDULE – A and installation of 2 systems successfully at site, the tenderer must commence it’s Supply of Design Configuration & Programming Tools for setting up of Development / Manufacturing Setup at Southern Railway S&T Workshop, Podanur of items against SCHEDULE – B.
  • Once the Setup is ready, Firm shall supply the COTS sub-modules as per SCHEDULE – B for minimum 2 sets along with the imparting of Training as covered in SCHEDULE – B.
  • Once the Design Configuration & Programming Tools, FAT and SAT Setup is ready and after Successful completion of the Training to the Southern Railway S&T Workshop, Podanur Officials, Workshop @ Podanur shall commence the manufacture under hands-on support from Firm’s Engineers as covered under SCHEDULE – B for the 2 systems, till deployment and its installation at site.
  • Thereafter the Firm should be in position to supply submodules against SCHEDULE – C as per Railway Requirement and also extends the hands-on support for manufacturing of the Mobile Emergency System at Podanur.
  • The Firm shall agree for Supply of Minimum 100 Sets (upto 300 Sets max.) of sub-modules against SCHEDULE – C and subject to minimum of Approx. 10 Sets every year to Southern Railway S&T Workshop, Podanur, at the quoted rate. In case needed, the additional requirement of sets or sub-modules, it will be communicated to Firm well in Advance as per rate accepted under SCHEDULE- C.
  • The Firm shall extend Full Support for manufacturing process of Mobile Emergency Interlocking which has been planned to manufacture against supplied Modules/Submodules vide Schedule – C for the entire period of the contract.
  • Any Modification/Upgradation needs to be carried out as per Railway requirement will be done free of cost by Firm for the entire period of contract.
  • Firm should ensure that safety is paramount and at no stage should be compromised while designing the system.

Work Experience:

  • Execution as contractor, or subcontractor, at least One contract that has been successfully or is substantially completed within the last Seven years before the deadline for submission of the bids, and that is similar to the proposed work.
    • The similar work here shall be that supply & installation of S & T Electronic equipment over Indian Railways for a value of equivalent to INR 1.06 crores, or
    • Execution as contractor, or subcontractor, at least Two contracts, each that have been successfully or are substantially completed within the last Seven years before the deadline for the submission of the bids, and that are similar to the proposed work.
  • Each similar work here is supply & installation of S&T Electronic equipment over Indian Railways for a value of equivalent to INR 0.606 crores
  • Construction Experience in Key Activities (Executed during the last Seven years prior to the applications submission deadline).

Tender documents can be downloaded from website https://rvnl.org/active-tenders-new


Source: RVNL- Tender | Image Credit (representational): MoR