The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is targeting to open the bidding for the operation and maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3) within the second half of the year.
Thus, the DOTr is setting aside the pending unsolicited proposals of conglomerates San Miguel Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
Jaime Bautista, DOTr secretary, recently said the DOTr still prefers to pursue solicited bids for the MRT-3 under the same scheme as the Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT-1) bidding.
“We are now working on the terms of reference,” Bautista said.
The government’s 25-year build-lease-transfer contract with the private consortium Metro Rail Transit Corp. ends in July 2025.
“We will be writing the MRT-3 proponents (of the unsolicited proposals). We will be acting on (the proposals) very soon, pursuant to the new PPP (public-private partnership) code and interim guidelines. We will act on it,” Timothy John Batan, DOTr undersecretary for planning, said when asked if the DOTr has informed the two conglomerates of its plan to pursue a solicited bidding.
“As early as the fourth quarter of 2022, we have taken the direction of moving (to) a solicited PPP for the MRT-3. 2023. We started engaging ADB (Asian Development Bank), also our adviser for NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport),” Batan added.
The DOTr will bundle MRT-3 with LRT-2 to have one operator for both rail systems.
The ADB and International Finance Corp. are working together to come up with a joint recommendation on how to bid out the two rail systems.
The DOTr is expected to open the bidding for the two rail systems by the second half of the year, with the timeline almost similar to the NAIA, said Batan.
Last year, MRT-3’s ridership surged 30 percent to 129 million from 98.3 million passengers recorded in the prior year, as more people returned to on-site work.
Average daily ridership also increased by more than 30 percent in 2023 to 357,198 from the previous year’s 273,141. The highest single-day ridership was recorded on August 22 with a total of 450,298 passengers.
