OTN Support Works

Description

The OTN is essential to the running of the Glasgow Subway as the failure of this network would cause the Subway to cease running. The maintenance and repair contract is essential to ensure the continuation of Subway service. Optical Transport Network is the fibre communications backbone for SPT Subway. The 15 stations and the depot are connected in a ring configuration with an interface to the bus and corporate sites. The voice and data services are carried on a multimodal fibre operating over 2 fibres forming a dual ring; this provides redundancy provision within the system in the event of a fibre break. The OTN operates as a multiplexer, voice and data services are connected to cards inside the multiplexer chassis. SPT has an existing contract with Siemens Mobility Limited assigned to Yunex Limited that expires in September 2022 therefore SPT entered into contract negotiations with the supplier to establish the opportunity of extending the term of the contract for a maximum of a three-year period, which is the current estimated time for full introduction of new rolling stock and associated signalling equipment. This requirement value is less than The Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016 threshold, therefore the OJEU rules do not apply. However, the value is above the Procurement Reform Act 2014 threshold, therefore these regulations apply. This requirement is exempt from competition due the proprietary nature of the network. As noted in section 2, this infrastructure was designed and installed by Siemens Mobility Limited, and as SPT has decided to continue to use this provider till the end of life for the OTN, the procurement route available is to negotiate without competition. This negotiation process comprised of extensive discussions with Yunex Limited, including process mapping and resulted in a fully costed proposal with an increased level of maintenance that took into account the age of the equipment and aligned with the introduction of new rolling stock. The supplier proposals were fully scrutinised by the SPT Engineering team. The final negotiated term of the contract is three years with effect from October 2022 for all OTN support including preventative and call out support. The contract duration will ensure the resilience of this system until introduction of the new system. This represents a reduction in risk over this period for a critical system, at a critical time for the Glasgow Subway.