LRT 1 awaits notice to secure new trains

MANILA, Philippines -  The operator of Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) is optimistic the supply of new light rail vehicles (LRVs) for the train system would start by November.

Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) president and chief executive officer Rogelio Singson told reporters, the group expects the notice to proceed for the new LRVs for the LRT-1 to be issued by mid-November.

“Based on the timeline, it looks like they will be able to meet the Nov.14 schedule,” he said.

As of last week, he said the financial proposals from bidders Marubeni-Rotem and Mitsubishi-CAF have been submitted to the Bids and Awards Committee.

“I think there should be enough time. There are only two bids for evaluation…We’re happy with the progress,” he said.

The government first conducted the bidding for the supply of 120 new LRVs for the LRT-1 in March last year, but was declared a failure as no offers were given by Japanese firms.

Former transport secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya attributed the lack of bids from Japanese firms to the surge in demand of rolling stocks in Japan as Tokyo prepares to host the 2020 Olympics.

As procurement of the trains is being funded by a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the bidding is open only to Japanese-led companies or consortia.

The second bidding was conducted for the procurement of LRT-1’s trains earlier this year.

Cesar Chavez, transportation undersecretary for the rail sector, said earlier, the government expects to award the contract for the supply of the LRT-1’s trains within the year.

Meanwhile, Singson said another project being funded by a loan from the JICA involving the expansion of the LRT-1 depot is expected to be awarded once the national budget for 2018 is approved as the project has a government counterpart requirement.

While the LRMC is monitoring developments on the procurement of the LRVs, as well as the depot expansion project, it continues to take measures intended to provide a better riding experience.

As part of the measures to improve its service, Singson said LRMC is studying a plan to put in place express trains or skip trains so passengers would no longer need to stop at all stations.

For instance, a passenger heading to Edsa station from Monumento station does not have to stop at the other stations.

“We’re hoping we can roll it out by December but our concern here is it will require a lot of commuter orientation so they don’t commit mistakes on where to board and get off,” Singson said.

LRMC which is composed of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., Ayala Corp.’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd. currently handles the operations and maintenance of the LRT-1 as it was awarded the P65 billon public-private partnership project covering the operations of the train line, as well as the extension all the way to Cavite.

LRMC broke ground to mark the start of construction works for the LRT-1’s extension last May.

At present, the LRT-1 covers Roosevelt station in Quezon City until Baclaran station in Parañaque.