8 groups submit documents for MRT, LRT single ticketing system

MANILA, Philippines - Eight groups, led by the country’s largest conglomerates, have submitted qualification documents to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for the P1.72-billion single contactless ticketing system for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT).

DOTC undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said the groups include the tandem of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp. or the AF Consortium, San Miguel Corp., SM consortium of retail magnate Henry Sy, Comworks, Lamco consortium, E-Trans Solutions, MTD-PRLM consortium, and Mega Lucky United Consortium.

Korean firm Kystek Corp., which tried to stop the bidding, did not submit qualification documents.

The AF Consortium is composed of BPI Card Finance Corp., MPIC, Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., NTT Data Corp. and its partners include Bank of the Philippine Islands, Cubic Transport Systems (Australia) Pte Ltd, Smart International Pte Ltd., Octopus Transactions Ltd., MSI Global, Accenture Inc., and IntraSystems SA.

SMC, which submitted bid documents through San Miguel Transport Solutions consortium, is composed of Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc., Catchweight Holdings Inc., DeltaCrest Holdings Inc., and AllCard Philippines Plastics Inc.

Its partners include affiliate Petron Corp., Korea Rail Road Corp., Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited, Philippine National Bank, VIX Technology (East Asia) Ltd., and Korail Network Co. Ltd.

The SM group is led by SM Investments Corp., BDO Capital Investment Corp., Advanced Card Systems Inc., Penta Capital Investments Corp., SM Retail Inc., GoldSign Data Co. Ltd., and BDO Unibank Inc.

The Comworks Inc. consortium is composed of publicly held Berjaya Philippines Inc., Philippine Gaming Management Corp., Taiwan-based Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp., Acer Inc., and Info Champ Systems Corp.

On the other hand, Lamco consortium is led by Lamco Paper Products Co. Inc., New San Jose Builders Inc., Land Bank of the Philippines, NEC Philippines Inc., Busan Transit Corp., and Samco FA Co Ltd.

The E-Trans Solutions JV Inc. is led by Tera Investments Inc., East West Banking Corp. of taipan Andrew Gotianun, Sagesoft Solutions Inc., Pilipinas Micro-Matrix Technology (PMT Joint Venture) Inc., Pulsar Avancer Technologies Inc., Kentkart EGE Electronic San VTE, and JTKA Equities Inc.

The MTD-PRLM consortium is composed of MTD Capital Bhd of Malaysia, Puregold Realty Leasing and Management Inc., businessman Lucio Co with PureGold Priceclub Inc., Transit Link Pte Ltd., and Maybank of Malaysia as their partners.

The DOTC and the Light Rail Transit Authority will evaluate documents and companies that meet the eligibility requirements will qualify to participate in the actual bidding scheduled in the third quarter of the year.

The MRT-LRT single ticket is envisioned to be like Hong Kong’s Octopus Card, which serves as a debit card, aside from being a stored-value train ticket. The single ticket can be used for other modes of transportation such as buses, paying toll, electronic banking, and even shopping.

The project will benefit over one million daily passengers using the light rail lines, ensuring seamless interconnection for travelers and removing the inconvenience of buying separate tickets for separate lines.

It will replace the magnetic based ticketing system and serve as an electronic micropayment in convenience stores, identifier for loyalty schemes, facility access and location based services for other transport modes such as buses and taxis.