PROSPER UIC Leaflet

UIC Leaflet
“Environmental Specifications for New Rolling Stock”

The UIC leaflet Environmental Specifications for New Rolling Stock addresses all relevant aspects for the integration of environmental aspects into the procurement process. It is designed to enhance the procurement of rolling stock for both setting up invitations to tender and evaluating tenders with regard to their environmental performance. The leaflet is derived from the UIC project PROSPER (“Procedures for Rolling Stock Procurement with Environmental Requirements”).

It is the aim of this leaflet to contribute to harmonisation of the environmental procurement framework in the rail sector at European, and in the long-term global level. By doing so the process of procurement is to become more efficient, enabling new rolling stock with a sound environmental performance to be procured more cost effectively.

The leaflet UIC leaflet “Environmental Specifications for New Rolling Stock” is expected to be published in spring 2006 and can be purchased from the UIC at www.uic.asso.fr 

The following key questions in the process of procurement of rolling stock are addressed in the leaflet:

What are the key environmental areas to be addressed in invitations to tender?
The key areas of energy consumption, noise emissions, exhaust emissions and materials/recycling/waste are considered. Furthermore, other miscellaneous issues such as the forthcoming environmental aspect of electromagnetic fields, have been included in the leaflet in line with the precautionary principle¹.

How should the procurement process be organised to enhance the environmental performance of new rolling stock?
As the procurement of new rolling stock is influenced by a large number of different actors inside and outside the railways, it is crucial to have a clear view of the process steps needed and the categories of experts that must be involved in procurement of rolling stock and the role they must play in order to achieve a clearly defined environmental performance.

Which environmental specifications should be used in invitations to tender?
The focus of this leaflet is to harmonise a set of qualitative environmental specifications that cover the key aspects governing the environmental performance of railway operations. In this leaflet target values are given for those specifications for which they could be derived from the applicable legislation. For all other quantifiable and measurable specifications no values are defined. Instead, operators should set requirements for performance values in order to assess the environmental performance of new rolling stock under specific conditions and at the same time improve the information bases for the respective specification.

In this respect it has to be pointed out that this leaflet is to be considered a first step towards a list of harmonised environmental standards in rail procurement. The specifications which can be handled (and verified!) at present are listed. Further harmonisation requirements and ongoing efforts are pointed out in the respective sections.

What approach should be used to evaluate tenders?
An approach to the evaluation of tenders should integrate assessment of the environmental as well as the economic performance with respect to Life-Cycle-Costs (LCC). A five-phase model for the evaluation process is proposed.

In Chapter 1 the scope and overall aim of the leaflet is outlined. In Chapter 2 the legal framework for procurement is sketched. The core of the leaflet is Chapter 3.4 in which detailed descriptions of environmental performance specifications are given. In Chapter 3.1 an outline is given showing how environmental performance can be incorporated into the procurement process. Chapter 3.5 outlines how the tender evaluation process can be structured.

The leaflet is intended to provide assistance for the procurement of new rolling stock for passenger as well as freight transport (multiple units, locomotives, wagons and coaches). It addresses all the relevant areas in the context of integrating environmental aspects into the procurement process. The leaflet adopts a functional approach using performance-related and not solution-related environmental specifications.

In general, a life-cycle perspective is favourable when assessing environmental impact. In this respect the recommendations given in this leaflet aim at improving environmental performance focussing on the most crucial issues within the whole life-cycle. In many cases the long life span of rail vehicles shifts the use phase into the centre of attention. On the other hand, operators are best equipped to improve performance during use at the procurement stage.

This leaflet is aimed at users within the rail business who are involved in the procurement of new rolling stock, but who are not directly concerned with environmental aspects. Technical and purchasing experts in particular are therefore identified as the main user groups, but environmental experts will also find valuable information here. The leaflet will help the user to:

• prioritise environmental aspects for rail vehicles,
• integrate environmental specifications in invitations to tender in a consistent manner and
• evaluate tenders in terms of meeting environmental requirements.

Although the leaflet is primarily geared towards assisting operators, it is also intended to be useful for engineering and purchasing staff of manufacturers in the supply chain (system integrators, system manufacturers, sub-suppliers, etc.).

The core of the UIC leaflet Environmental Specifications for New Rolling Stock is a set of harmonised environmental specifications in the four environmental key areas Energy Efficiency, Materials/ Recycling/ Waste, Noise and Exhaust Emissions. The following table lists these environmental specifications which are defined and described in detail in the UIC leaflet.

Legally Mandatory Specifications
For the specifications in the first row, the environmental performances are legally regulated. A potential better performance than the legal baseline could represent a more sound long-term investment in rolling stock because it reduces the risk of future expenses and efforts to meet higher environmental legal standards.

Voluntary Specifications
The second row contains specifications which are not governed by legislation. These specifications can be used in invitations to tender according to the environ-mental strategy of the company, national requirements and priorities as well as economic assessments.

Performance mainly dependent on design
The first column comprises specifications which have a direct influence on the environmental performance of rolling stock basically independent of the operation of the rolling stock. As examples the rate of renewable materials and the specific mass are fixed by construction and do not change during the lifetime of the vehicle unless design changes are made to the vehicle.

Performance mainly dependent on operation
The environmental performance with respect to issues addressed in the second column depends to a high degree on how the new rolling stock is actually used in operation. The design is certainly a precondition to obtaining a good performance. But whether or not it is reached in practice depends to a large extent on operational patterns and the infrastructure on which the rolling stock is used. Energy meters for example will not yield any reduction in energy consumption by themselves, but are a prerequisite for energy efficient driving campaigns with which energy consumption can be reduced dramatically.

Considering Environmental Aspects in the Procurement Process
The procurement process for new rolling stock is characterised by a range of different requirements to be fulfilled and a large number of actors involved. For efficient integration of environmental requirements into the railway procurement process, it is important to clarify and define the roles of the different players in the process and be aware of the interfaces involved and information required at the various process stages.

In the leaflet procedures for the integration of environmental aspects into the railway procurement process are described: