A FILIPINO-GERMAN joint venture won the contract to maintain the largest component of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) announced on Tuesday.
In a news statement, the transportation department said the P131.28-million contract—which covers rolling stocks, depot equipment and signaling—was bagged by the Schunk Bahn- und Industrietechnik GmbH-Comm Builders and Technology Phils. Corp. Joint Venture last week.
The joint venture will start taking over the components’ maintenance on July 5.
Schunk is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of high-quality power- transmission railway equipment. Comm Builders, on the other hand, is part of the joint venture that currently maintains the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1.
The agency is procuring maintenance subcontractors directly under a multidisciplinary approach in order to enhance the efficiency of maintenance works per component while it is preparing the three-year maintenance contract for procurement.
The government has also awarded the following MRT 3 maintenance contracts:
- Rail and permanent ways to Jorgman-Korail-Erin Marty Joint Venture;
- Building and facilities to Global Epcom Services Inc.;
- Communications systems to Trilink Technologies Inc.; and
- Ticketing to Future Logic Corp.
The four contracts have a combined ticket price of P61.48 million.
This leaves only two out of the seven components still for procurement and award, namely, the power supply and overhead catenary system, and the conveyance systems.
The government will also launch the auction for the P4.2-billion, three-year MRT maintenance deal soon, after all requirements for the procurement have been met.
The transportation department decided to double the contract price from the original P2.2 billion, to increase the interest of maintenance providers. The contract now includes the lot, the general overhaul of the trains and the replacement of the signaling system of the MRT.
The terms of the sweetened contract will have to go through the approval of the Government Procurement Policy Board and the National Economic and Development Authority.
Currently, a shadowing team from the transportation department is assisting APT Global Inc. in maintaining the line. The maintenance provider’s contract expired in the second half of last year. It was, however, extended due to the failed auctions.
The government has also procured 48 new train cars for the MRT 3. But the delivery of the new coaches, according to Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya, will be delayed by about three months. The deferment, he said, was caused by the prototype’s need to undergo dynamic and static testing and debugging to ensure that the new coaches will function at their optimal level.
Commuters from the north and south of Manila patronize the MRT 3 as it is a cheaper and faster option to riding buses and taxis. But some are now adamant to ride the once-mighty train system because of safety reasons.
The train system saw itself bogging multiple times this year already, once even forcing passengers to walk beside the rails along the station in Guadalupe in Makati City.
There are also fewer trains running due to the lack of spare parts, and a reputable maintenance provider.
But once the 48 new trains come in, the MRT 3’s trips per hour will increase from 20 to 24, which will translate to a 60-percent rise in the number of passengers per hour, per direction.
This means that there will be 37,824 passengers who can avail themselves of the rail service every hour heading toward one direction. Currently, only about 23,640 people ride an MRT 3 service per way every hour. But that number still depends on how many trains are running that day.
Today the rail line’s average daily ridership is already over 560,000, and its highest single-day passenger count is 620,000.
The project is aimed at easing the gridlock on Edsa, and “make the MRT 3 experience much more bearable for its riders.”
The government also plans to to modify the structure of its trains from three coaches to four in the third quarter this year. But this also seems to be affected by the delay.