NEDA opts for solicited bids for rails’ O&M

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The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has stated its preference for the solicited route for the bidding of the operation and maintenance (O&M) contracts for the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3) and the Light Rail Transit line 2 (LRT-2).

“Of course, we prefer solicited versus unsolicited, because with solicited, you tend to get better chances of getting a good winner,” Arsenio Balisacan, NEDA secretary, said during the Economic and Financial Literacy Training for the Media held in Ortigas last Saturday.

“Because you really don’t know what’s a good proposal until you see all the proposals on the table. You miss that when it is unsolicited,” he added during the event co-organized with the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines.

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The Department of Transportation (DOTr) earlier said it plans to bundle the bidding for the O&M of the MRT-3 and the LRT-2.

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, Cesar Chavez, DOTr undersecretary for railway, said last July.

The DOTr is looking at transferring the operation of MRT-3 to the state-run Light Rail Transit Authority, which operates LRT-2, then bid out to the private sector the O&M of the two rail systems as a bundle.

“I think our direction is to get the operations and maintenance done by the private sector.

So we are studying that. I don’t think that the DOTr has submitted a proposal to the NEDA Board, but they are studying that,” Balisacan said.

“First, they would have to present their proposal to NEDA so we can already study it, and then present it to the NEDA Board or NEDA secretariat. We’ll see the pros and cons of the proposal,” he added.

The DOTr and 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, 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, 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.

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