Amtrak RFP for improved Wi-Fi on Acela trains
Amtrak has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking a vendor that can provide a wireless backhaul system alongside the railway tracks of the Amtrak Acela Fleet in the Northeast corridor to deliver reliable and faster Wi-Fi service to passengers in its trains.
The Amtrak RFP documents state that Amtrak has experienced difficulty providing reliable Wi-Fi service to passengers because it uses cellular backhaul provided by US cellular operators. In many places, there isn’t a good cellular signal and the Wi-Fi connections get dropped. As a result, Amtrak wants to deploy its own wireless backhaul along the tracks on trains that travel between Washington D.C. and Boston.
Excerpt from the Amtrak RFP:
Amtrak is seeking a method of train-to-ground communication (Trackside Network) that is (a) superior to the existing cellular system installed on the Acela and Northeast Regional trains; (b) of sufficient technical advancement to deliver consistent, uninterrupted connectivity with the best possible speed, quality, and reliability; and (c) will scale to meet user demand in the future. The trackside network (TSN) will create a secure, fault?tolerant train?to?ground link between the train and the fiber backhaul to the Internet. This new TSN will allow Amtrak to be competitive for the traveler’s dollars in the tight Northeast market.
You can view the Introductory Amtrak RFP document on Scribd but if you want to bid on this project, you must visit the Amtrak website, download all of the documents and register.
Amtrak RFP details
Provide a trackside solution for WIFI on Acela Fleet
Contract Number DOC645231
Commodity Network service equipment
Response Start Date 05/28/2014
Response End Date 06/12/2014
State(s)
Region Northeastern US
Contract Agent Nicholas Troiano
Email Address troiann@amtrak.com
Details
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Trackside WIFI Solution RFP Doc6454231
Description: Provide a Trackside Solution for WIFI on Amtrak’s Acela Fleet within the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak will accept proposals for the following procurement until 2:00 PM Eastern Time on the closing date stated below:
RFP Number: Doc645231
Proposal Closing Date: Monday, July 28, 2014
Contracting Agent: Nicholas Troiano E-mail Address: troiann@amtrak.com
In order to become a registered potential Offeror you must contact the Contracting Agent of record listed above. This will ensure your opportunity to receive all the appropriate correspondence and to submit a response to this procurement. If interested please do so by COB June 12, 2014.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The information contained herein may not be reissued or redistributed in any form or manner in whole or part without the advanced expressed written consent and permission of Amtrak. In an effort to ensure maximum practicable opportunity to participate in contracting in accordance with Amtrak policy, prime firms under agreement with Amtrak are required to put forth Good Faith Efforts to contract with Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) in the provision of goods and services. Therefore a subcontract goal has been established for this opportunity.
PLEASE NOTE THAT A PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE AND SITE VISIT IS SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014, COMMENCING AT 8:30 AM – IT IS MANDATORY THAT ANY OFFEROR WHO IS INTERESTED IN ATTENDING, REGISTER FOR THE PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE OR SITE VISIT. PLEASE SEE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IN THE INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS.
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