EXPECT lesser “operational disruptions” at the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) assured on Wednesday, after the department awarded a P160-million contract for the supply of a new rail-grinding machine to a private joint venture.
The supply of the machine, awarded to the joint venture between Kempal Construction & Supply Corp. and TPE Share Sales Inc., will improve the condition of the rails of the train system by ensuring better track upkeep, the transport agency said in a news statement.
The machine, along with operations and maintenance manuals, repair tools and a five-year supply of spares, will be delivered within 360 calendar days from issuance of the notice to proceed.
“This will put an end to the classification of systematic rail grinding as special repair works—which entails additional costs—and instead characterize it as an ordinary preventive maintenance undertaking. With its own rail-grinding machine, the MRT 3 management can minimize costs, as similar equipment will no longer be leased from other firms, the transport agency said.
The contract is part of a P9.7-billion program that aims to fix the ailing railway line. The government is also spending P4.25 billion for the three-year maintenance and the general overhaul of existing train coaches, and the replacement of the system’s signaling system.
The agency is targeting to award the contract within the fourth quarter this year, to enable the latter to take over from the seven multidiscipline contractors currently maintaining the rail line by January 2016.
This long-term maintenance provider will not only undertake the regular maintenance requirements of the system over the next three years, it will also conduct the general overhaul of existing MRT 3 coaches, as well as the replacement of the signaling system.
The general overhaul is needed in order to improve the condition of the 16-year-old coaches, and the signaling system replacement will ensure safer operations throughout the line.
The mass-transit system, which ferries more than half-a-million passengers daily, may be characterized to be in a state of decay. Every day passengers complain of long queues caused by the lack of light-rail vehicles, its humid train cars, and faulty elevators and escalators. These are all caused by the lack of proper maintenance, rehabilitation and upgrades.
Today, the rail line’s average daily ridership is already over 560,000, and its highest single-day passenger count is 620,000. It has a rated capacity of 350,000 passengers per day.