Track System Safety Research

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Offers are being requested and a separate written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation No. 6913G626Q300043 is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). This solicitation is being conducted under FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This solicitation document and Incorporated provisions are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2026-01, effective 03/13/2026. The NAICS Code is 541330; the Small Business size standard is $25.5M. This solicitation incorporates provisions and clauses; full text of provisions and clauses may be accessed electronically at http://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul The U.S. Department of Transportation/John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) intends to solicit and award on a sole source basis with David Jeong, North Reading, MA, in accordance with FAR 6.103-1(a) and (b). The Volpe Center has a requirement for Track System Safety Research Rail Integrity Consulting Services. The contractor shall provide engineering consulting services to the Volpe Center on track system safety research. The comprehensive management of track safety requires a unified analytical framework that addresses both track buckling (compressive failure) and rail breaks (tensile/fracture failure). This highly specialized, deep historical knowledge and technical expertise will assist the Volpe Center with providing support to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Track Safety Research Program, in accordance with the Statement of Work (SOW) below. STATEMENT OF WORK (Begin) 1. Scope of Work The Contractor must provide engineering consulting services to the U.S. DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center’s (Volpe Center) Structures and Dynamics Division in support of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Track Safety Research Program. This effort focuses on track system safety research, specifically the prevention of rail failures and track buckling. The Contractor must perform recorded 1-hour technical consultations and deliver associated presentations, technical white papers, and electronic data files throughout the base and option periods. 2. Background The U.S. DOT Volpe Center has supported FRA’s Track Safety Research Program since the 1970s. This program focuses on mitigating the risks of track failures. Preventing failures is critical because a broken rail or bucked track can derail a train. Derailments can cause service interruptions, environmental damage, and loss of life. Rail failures typically occur due to fatigue crack (defect) growth from service loads of passing trains repeatedly subject the rail to wheel contact forces and bending, causing defects to form and grow [1]. Rail Failures: Rail defects grow slowly at first but accelerate over time. Without repair, a defect can reach a critical size and fracture the rail. The industry calls the period from when a defect becomes visible to when it reaches critical size the "slow crack-growth life [2]." Railroads measure this life in million gross tons (MGT) of traffic. A primary goal of rail integrity research is to set rail inspection frequencies based on this safe crack-growth life. Volpe Center research helps establish these guidelines. Because railroads continue to increase traffic density and axle loads, the FRA must update its inspection strategies. Researchers use modern advances in metal fatigue, solid mechanics, fracture mechanics, and nondestructive inspection to improve these strategies. Today, surface damage is more likely to lead to broken rails than manufacturing defects, and surface damage can disrupt modern inspection technologies [1]. Track Buckling: Railroads must al...