The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will bid out the operation and maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3) as the contract with private stakeholders is set to expire in two years.
The DOTr and Metro Rail Transit Corp. signed a Build-Lease-Transfer 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 which will expire in 2025.
Jaime Bautista, DOTr secretary, told reporters the new administration will pursue the bidding of the MRT-3 to a new private consortium, similar to the Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT-1).
“We will study the possibility again of offering it for a concession similar to what happened in LRT-1,” Bautista said.
Bautista declined to give the details on the MRT-3’s bidding but this will likely be similar to the LRT-1 in which the DOTr signed a 32-year concession for the operation and maintenance of the existing 20-kilometer LRT-1 system and with expansion up to Cavite.
Last December, DOTr completed the comprehensive rehabilitation and upgrade of the MRT-3 that included the restoration of all its 72 light rail vehicles, replacement of all rail tracks, and rehabilitation and upgrade of its power supply, overhead catenary system, communications and signaling system, and stations and depot facilities and equipment.
Funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, MRT-3’s rehabilitation, which started in May 2019, was undertaken by its original contractor and maintenance provider, Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to restore MRT-3’s high quality design condition, after many years of poor maintenance and degradation.
This improved the MRT-3’s operating conditions, with its operating speed now back to 60 kilometers per hour from a low of 25 kilometers per hour. The number of operating trains also increased from a low of 13 to as high as 23.
Headway, or the waiting time between trains, is likewise reduced to as low as 3.5 minutes from a high of 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, the MRT-3 management yesterday began implementing the segregation scheme with the first two trains allocated to senior citizens, persons with disability, pregnant and female.
DOTr is also giving 20 percent discount to students during the train’s operation hours while they get free rides at the LRT-2 from August 22 to November 5.
