(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman Rail the company responsible for development of the national railway project in the sultanate is looking to partner with an international rail operator to ensure high-level expertise and world-class operations and support the setting up of a framework for initial operations.
Oman Rail on Sunday floated the tender for appointment of an operations and maintenance (O&M) partner.
Once the railway network is built (or segments of it) Oman Rail's O&M partner will be responsible for freight and network operations and maintenance services. In addition the partner is also expected to support staff development and build up local capabilities.
The minimum requirements for operators to participate in the tender include: A minimum five years of experience in railway freight operations and maintenance; a minimum five years of experience in freight terminal operations and maintenance; and a minimum five years of experience in network management (mixed freight and passenger) the tender document said.
Oman Rail said that the scope of services of the O&M partner will be for three different phases of the project: Pre-operations start-up operations and steady-state operations. The partner will provide personnel and know-how for each phase of the contract to ensure the performance of railway freight O&M terminal O&M and railway network management and maintenance.
In the pre-operations phase the core task of the partner will be to ensure the operational readiness for start of operations meaning that all operational procedures documents approvals and required staff are in place.
During the start-up operations phase the O&M partner will be responsible for running the initial freight operations and network management and ramping up the required personnel.
In steady-state operations phase the partner needs to ensure efficient and profitable operations of the freight trains the railway network and terminals as well as timely and efficient maintenance of the rolling stock terminals and infrastructure.
In addition the partner will also ensure that activities related to staff development and general support functions are successfully implemented throughout all three phases.
The tender process comprises two stages namely technical tender (for all tenderers) and commercial tender (for technically qualified tenderers).
As part of the technical tender stage all tenderers will be invited for a site visit which allows tenderers to get familiarised with Oman and to meet selected key potential customers. The tenderers shall then submit their technical proposal upon which they will be assessed and technically qualified based on pre-defined technical evaluation criteria.
All tenderers that are shortlisted following Oman Rail's evaluation of technical proposals will be invited to meetings to discuss the commercial structure.
The planned national railway project will span over 2135km and will connect Oman's major ports and industrial areas with the country's mineral deposits and oil reserves. In addition the rail connects Oman to the region through the GCC rail network.
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