Meralco unit firms up bid for LRT-1 Ext

MANILA, Philippines - Rail company Miescorrail Inc., a direct subsidiary of power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), is firming up the bid for the LRT Line 1 South Extension project as part of the Metro Pacific consortium, its top official said.

The submission of bids for the operations and maintenance contract of the big-ticket infrastructure project under the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program, is scheduled tomorrow, May 28.

In a recent interview with The STAR, Miescorrail chairman and president Jesus Francisco, said the company is helping the Metro Pacific-led consortium firm up its bid for the project.

“We’re trying to help Metro Pacific and Ayala firm up their bid. The bid submission is May 28. If they win, we may have a role,” Francisco said.

In particular, he said the company can help the foreign partners by providing them local support in operations and maintenance should the consortium win the project.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) will partner with Ayala Corp., one of the country’s oldest conglomerates, in bidding for the project.

According to the PPP Center, the P64.9-billion LRT Line 1 South Extension project aims to increase average weekday ridership to 820,000 passengers in 2015 from 560,000.

It seeks to provide rapid and reliable access to and from the densely populated residential sub-urban communities south of Manila, and the various strategic commercial, industrial, and educational districts in Metro Manila, the PPP Center added.

“The project involves the construction of an approximate length of 11.7 km from the terminus of the LRT Line 1 at the Baclaran Terminal, to the Niyog Station at Bacoor, Cavite; of which approximately 10.5 km will be elevated and 1.2 km will be at-grade.  The whole stretch of the integrated LRT-1 with total length of approximately 32.4 km will be operated and maintained by a private proponent,” it said.