The Department of Transportation (DOTr) plans to bid out the operation and maintenance (O&M) of two big-ticket railway infrastructure projects, worth P1.134 trillion, within the fourth quarter this year.
Timothy John Batan, DOTr undersecretary for railways, said the DOTr is seeking the approval of National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) board for the bidding the O&M contract of the P356- billion Metro Manila Subway project (MMSP and the P778-billion North- South Commuter Rail (NSCR) project this year.
Batan told the virtual forum on railway projects hosted by the Joint foreign Chambers of the Philippines yesterday the bidding of O&M is part of the Build Build Build program’s hybrid implementation concept, where projects that require huge upfront investments would be undertaken by the government since it has access to cheaper financing.
The MMSP and the NSCR are being built with official development assistance.
“As to who will eventually operate the project, (that is) the second part of the hybrid policy (which) is (to) get the private sector do the operation and maintenance,” Batan said
DOTr plans to get a similar private operator like the Light Rail Manila Corp for the Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT-1) and San Miguel Corp for Metro Rail Transit line 7 (MRT-7).
The Duterte administration has no definite decision yet on the privatization of the LRT line 2 (LRT2) and MRT-3.
“As to the other line, there is no definite direction yet for LRT2 and MRT3., but it’s part of the consideration,” Batan said.
Meanwhile, the MMSP is targeted to start partial operation by next year. The NSCR project is composed of three railway projects via the Philippine National Railways connecting Calamba, Laguna to Clark.
