U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Acquisition and Grants Services, Mail Stop 50, 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590

U -- RAILROAD OPERATING METHODOLOGIES SOL DTFR53-99-P-00417 DUE 042299 POC Purchasing Agent, Dana L. Hicks, 202-493-6131, fax 202-493-6171, Contracting Officer Illona M. Williams, 202-493-6130 Operating Practices (OP) Inspectors and Principal Regional Inspectors with an OP background are required to perform a variety of duties, including site-specific (routine) inspections of train dispatching offices, Safety Assurance and Compliance Program (SACP) activities, and railroad accident investigations. To ensure FRA and State OP Inspectors have the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform their inspection duties in a competent and professional manner, FRA's Safety Improvement and Development Team (SIDT) is responsible for the design, development, and delivery of in-house courses and contracting for those courses best delivered by external sources. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) seeks a qualified contractor to work with the OP Training Specialist-SIDT to design, develop and deliver a two-day hands-on training course on the railroad's train dispatching simulator equipment to supplement two days of classroom training which will be provided by FRA on operating practices. Specifically, the objective is to have a qualified contractor design, develop and deliver a series of two-day hands-on training classes that would provide FRA and State OP Inspectors with knowledge that would enable them to perform comprehensive inspections at train dispatching offices. FRA anticipates scheduling seven such classes, with 16 OP Inspectors attending each class. The course must include at least two hours of hands-on simulator training for each inspector. Depending on the response to this proposal, FRA will either contract with one railroad or distribute the contract among two to three railroads. The two-day contractor training classes would be conducted before the end of Fiscal Year 1999, which ends on September 30, 1999. Scheduling would be mutually decided between the contractor and FRA's OP Training Specialist-SIDT. Factors to be considered would include Federal budgetary constraints, other FRA training course schedules, and availability of the contractor's instructors and/or classroom space. It would also be beneficial (although not necessary) for the contractor to provide a classroom for the additional two days of instruction that will be performed by the FRA staff, or transportation (if feasible) from the hotel lodging facility to the contractor's training facility. The entire course, which shall consist of the two days of contractor hands-on training on train dispatching simulator equipment and the two additional days of FRA classroom training (if classroom space is provided by the contractor), shall remain limited to a total of four days, to allow the inspectors a full business day to travel back to their respective destinations at the completion of the course. Contractor proposals should list the cost on a per-student basis, calculated at 16 students per class. As FRA has no fixed classroom facilities, we contract with hotels throughout the Continental United States to provide them at no cost as part of the arrangements based on total room-nights. The proposals must also advise (and state the costs involved) whether FRA or the contractor will provide the classroom for the two additional days of FRA classroom training, and whether or not the contractor is willing to provide transportation to and from the hotel lodging facility to the contractor's training facility. If the contractor is unable to provide transportation between the hotel lodging facility and their training facility, FRA will arrange for the transportation through government resources. An additional factor will be the contractor's available resources to provide training to FRA and State OP Inspectors. It is anticipated that the contractor would need a total of approximately eight train dispatcher simulators, each of which would be shared by two students. The course syllabus must be developed using generally accepted training standards, including an overall description, general learning objectives, and learning objectives specific to each of the lessons. The contractor must be able to describe how the learning objectives are to be achievedand measured. Proposals should include, but are not limited to, the first method of operation listed below, and one of the other two operating methods listed: 1. Traffic Control System (TCS): Procedures for establishing TCS movement authorities, including hands-on manipulation of those controls on a train dispatching simulator; and 2. Computerized Track Warrant Control (TWC): Procedures for establishing Track Warrant Control authorities, including hands-on manipulation of those controls on a train dispatching simulator; or 3. Direct Traffic Control (DTC): Procedures for establishing Direct Traffic Control authorities, including hands-on manipulation of those controls on a train dispatching simulator. FRA's Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) or technical point of contact for this acquisition is: Ms. Kathy Schnakenberg, Operating Practices Training Specialist (SIDT) 2920 Grand Kansas City, MO 64108 Phone & Fax: (816) 561-2714 Questions of a non-technical nature should be directedto Purchasing Agent Dana Hicks at 202-493-6131. Posted 04/01/99 (W-SN315547). (0091)

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