Chinese contractors best bet for railway projects — DOTr

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese contractors are seen as the Philippines’ best bet in undertaking its biggest and most ambitious long haul railway projects to date, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Transportation Undersecretary for railways Timothy John Batan said  China is deemed the most capable to handle the development of the country’s major long haul railway lines given its expertise and experience in embarking on these projects.

“We know that our needed capability, experience, and expertise, China has and will be able to provide,” he said.

“That is our way of choosing our partners for ODA (official development assistance) loans. First, identify what is the project that we need. Second, look if the development partner which has the capability to provide our need. If we look over the past two, three decades of China, they have deployed and built the largest and the most, especially for the long haul lines,” Batan said.

Three major railway projects are currently in the pipeline for financing by China. These are the 639-kilometer Philippine National Railways South long haul project, the Mindanao railway project, and the 71.13-km Subic-Clark railway project.

The DOTr signed in November last year the project management consultancy contract with a Chinese consortium composed of China Railway Design Corp. and Guangzhou Wanan Construction Supervision Co. Ltd. for the PNR South Long Haul project.

The consortium is tasked to conduct all pre-construction surveys, preparation of designs for bidding, preparation of bidding documents, bidding assistance, construction supervision, and defects liability period supervision.

“Since the contract was signed, the project management consultant has been working on the design and alignment for that,” Batan said.

Upon completion, the PNR South Long Haul project will connect Metro Manila, Region IV-A, and Region V, reducing travel time from Manila to Legazpi City from 13 hours to under six hours.

Meanwhile, Batan said bidding documents for both the Subic-Clark railway project and the Mindanao Railway project are ready, and certain documentation processes with China are currently being finalized.

Once the documentations are finalized, Batan said procurement for the projects’ contractors will commence.

The Mindanao Railway project in its entirety will consist of 1,532 circumferential and spur lines that will connect Davao provinces, Iligan, Cagayan De Oro, General Santos City, and Zamboanga.

Phase 1 of the project, which will cover the Tagum-Davao-Digos segment, is a 102-kilometer rail line that will have eight stations and a depot in Tagum.

The railway project is now being envisioned to be a two-track, electric, and standard train system, instead of a previously single-track system with diesel trains.