The Department of Transportation (DOTr) plans to bundle the bidding for the operation and maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3) and the Light Rail Transit line 2 (LRT-2) by 2025.
As the 25-year Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) contract between the government and the private stakeholder, Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC), is set to end by 2025, the DOTr is now finalizing the privatization of the MRT-3, according to Cesar Chavez, DOTr undersecretary for railway.
The DOTr is looking at transferring the operation of MRT-3 to the state-run Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), which operates LRT-2, then bid out to the private sector the operation and maintenance of the two rail systems as a bundle.
“We have to decide between now and July 2024,” Chavez recently told reporters.
Once the decision is finalized, Chavez said the DOTr will seek the National Economic and Development Authority Board’s approval to the plan.
At present, LRTA operates the LRT-2 as well as the LRT-1 prior to turn over to the private sector in 2015.
The DOTr and the MRTC signed a BLT agreement in August 1997 to construct the mass rail transport system along Edsa. It took effect in 1999 and is deemed valid for 25 years.
Last December, DOTr completed the comprehensive rehabilitation and upgrade of the MRT-3 that includes the restoration of all its 72 light rail vehicles (LRVs), replacement of all rail tracks as well as rehabilitation and upgrade of its power supply, overhead catenary system, communications and signaling system, and stations and depot facilities and equipment.
With this, the MRT-3’s operating conditions have improved with its operating speed now faster; from a low of 25 kilometers per hour, it is back to 60 kph. The number of trains has increased from a low of 13, to as high as 23 operational trains.
Also, the headway, or the waiting time between trains, has been reduced from a high of 10 minutes, to as low as 3.5 minutes.
Meanwhile, the fare adjustment at the LRT-1 and LRT-2 will be implemented on August 2, while there is a pending petition for a fare increase for MRT-3 which will likely be approved this year.
The train fare will increase the boarding fee by P2.29 with an additional 21 centavos for every kilometer.
With this, LRT-1 and LRT-2’s minimum boarding fees will increase to P13.29 from P11, and P1.21 per km for every kilometer traveled from the original P1 per km.
