Appointment of an Independent Competent Person (ICP) to support undertaking Safety Verification for the Mass Transit Project (Sheffield Supertram Network)

The purpose of this exercise is to support the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to identify and select an appropriate procurement route for appointing an 'Independent Competent Person' as defined in the Railways and Other Guided Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 in relation to the Mass Transit (Supertram) Renewal Project. SYMCA is keen to understand market capability, preferred contractual routes, and an anticipated cost for the services required.

This exercise consists of a short market engagement questionnaire for completion and return. SYMCA is the owner of the South Yorkshire Supertram system, a 29km light rail network running predominately within the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England, UK.

The network includes two fleets of trams (32 vehicles in total), 29km of tracks, 12 substations, one depot, 29km of overhead line electrification, numerous civil engineering assets including bridges, an underpass, earthworks and drainage, and signalling and communications assets. The network originally opened in 1994 and was extended in 2018 into the neighbouring town of Rotherham using innovative tram train technology.

The network was previously operated by South Yorkshire Supertram Limited between 1994-2024 which was a subsidiary of national transport operator Stagecoach Group. When this contract ended, SYMCA appointed South Yorkshire Future Trams Limited (SYFTL) to operate the system and undertake day to day maintenance.

SYFTL, which is a subsidiary company of SYMCA, is contracted via an Operating Agreement, which allows SYMCA to act as the commissioner (specifying the service levels, maintenance and cleaning standards etc.) with SYFTL responsible for the delivery. Under the Operating Agreement, SYMCA is generally responsible for the funding and delivery of renewals and investment into the system.

The Railways and Other Guided Systems (Safety) Regulations (ROGS) place obligations on both SYFTL and SYMCA in relation to managing the network's safety. SYFTL is a Transport Undertaking as the entity which runs trams on the network.

SYMCA is the Infrastructure Manager through its role in strategic management of the assets which form the tramway and its role in delivering renewals, however certain activities are undertaken by SYFTL under delegation. Therefore both SYFTL and SYMCA meet the definition of a 'Transport Operator' under ROGS. 1ROGS places certain obligations on Transport Operators where new or modified infrastructure and vehicles are introduced, including the requirement to undertake formal Safety Verification where a Duty Holder's Safety Management System identifies this requirement.

As part of this process, Duty Holders must appoint an Independent Competent Person to support this process. SYMCA is currently embarking on a significant project to renew many assets forming the network and needs to appoint the services of an Independent Competent Person as described by ROGS.