INTEREST in rehabilitating and expanding the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3) has not waned in the slightest, and has, in fact, increased, as two of the country’s largest conglomerates are willing to pursue overhaul programs aimed at improving and augmenting the services and capacity of the railway facility.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan and San Miguel Corp. President Ramon S. Ang separately signified their interest in modernizing the country’s most-congested train system, with the former already revising its previous offer.
“One project we are keen on is the MRT 3. We’d hoped they’d be open to some form of settlement. We are in the process of updating our offer,” Pangilinan said in a chance interview.
As early as 2011, Metro Pacific submitted a proposal to the then Department of Transportation and Communications, offering $524 million worth of investments from the private sector to be used to rehabilitate and upgrade the MRT 3.
However, it was rejected by the transport department due to former President Benigno S. Aquino III’s lack of appetite for unsolicited proposals.
The offer, which was resubmitted to the transport agency on the suggestion of Congress after a hearing on the train line in 2015, aims to expand the capacity of the railway system by adding more coaches to each train, allowing it to carry more cars at faster intervals.
The multimillion-dollar expansion proposal aims to double the capacity of the line to 700,000 passengers a day from the current 350,000 passengers daily.
Meanwhile, Ang said his group is also keen on expanding and improving the railway line, which will be connected to the future MRT Line 7, a facility that San Miguel is currently building.
“If the government will bid out any project with respect to MRT 3, we will join,” Ang said. “If the government allows us to submit an unsolicited proposal, we will submit.”
Ang said he wants to first ensure the government is keen on accepting unsolicited bids, as conducting a study “is costly”.
“We have expressed our interest long ago. If the government’s pronouncement is they are willing to do it, then we will do it,” Ang said.
The group is also willing to study the possibility of partnering with companies to improve the state of the line.
“Of course, we can work with anybody. We are very close to Metro Pacific, to Mr. Pangilinan. We are also very close to the Zobels and Mr. Sy. We intend to work with everybody,” Ang said, referring to the Ayala and Sy families.
Aside from Metro Pacific’s offer, other proposals to improve the MRT 3 have been submitted to the government in recent years.
Comm Builders & Technology Philippines (CB&T) and German partner Schunk Bahn-und Industrietechnik submitted in February 2015 a P4.64-billion offer that calls for the complete overhaul of the 73 light-rail vehicles of the MRT, the replacement of the rails, the upgrading of the line’s ancillary system, the upgrade of the track circuit and signaling systems, the modernization of the conveyance system and a three-year maintenance contract.
MRT Holdings Inc.’s proposal involves an $800-million investment that will be spent in three phases.
Under the three-phased proposal, the private sector will start fixing the train line’s immediate problems, namely the system’s dilapidated rails, outdated signalling system and its failing train cars.
The next phase involves the upgrade of the whole system, which costs about $400 million. It involves the replacement of all elevators, escalators, and the make-over of the stations.
MRT Holdings will also buy 48 new cars to double its capacity so that 1 million to 1.2 million passengers could ride the train system daily.
The third phase involves the linking of the MRT to the Light Rail Transit Line 1’s Monumento Station.
The government has programmed a P9.7-billion spending initiative to expand and improve the MRT on its own.
Daily ridership at the MRT reaches 500,000 per day, way above its 350,000-passenger rated capacity.
2 comments
All the govt needs to do is proceed with a competetive bidding and award the priject to the best value bidder. At no coat to the govt,the programmed 9.7B can then be allocated to another project. The cost for the govt is to buy the stamp that will approve the winning bid. A 100 peso investment. With these deals like this the apetite of govt ahould be unlimited.
Forget about getting the government do the rehab work. Government is so INUTIL the rehab work will never get done but the 9 Billion will be stolen. DON’T ever allow the government to do any project because the results will be substandard if it ever gets done and will be so over budget. These people in government are nothing but thieves and robbers.