‘DOTC, MRTC ignored upgrade plan’

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) allegedly ignored warnings about the critical parts shortage of the MRT’s signaling and radio communications system.

Roehl Bacar, president and chief executive officer of Comm Builders & Tech Philippines (CBT), said as ‘interim’ maintenance contractor from October  2012 to August 2013, the CBT in coordination with the MRT signaling systems supplier and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Bombardier, had laid out a plan to upgrade the system.

“We had presented an upgrade plan that will migrate from the MAN 900 to the EBI Screen 900,” he said yesterday.

“The MAN 900 has obsolete parts already, Bombardier has in fact stopped manufacturing it in 2009.” 

Last Saturday morning, the MRT’s radio communication systems bogged down, stopping rail  operations the whole day and causing massive inconvenience to passengers.

Bacar said another systems audit for the MRT by a foreign rail line company is not needed.

What is needed is decisive action from the DOTC and MRTC for swift vital systems procurement, he added.

Bacar said CB&T Philippines had conducted a comprehensive systems audit in October 2012 up to February 2013 after signing an interim maintenance contract.

The DOTC had also previously retained an expensive European consultant, Systra, on the operation of the MRT, he added.

Bacar said that the signaling systems were thoroughly inspected by CB&T in coordination with Bombardier.

CB&T is currently the maintenance contractor for LRT Line 1 running from Baclaran in Parañaque to Roosevelt-EDSA in Quezon City,

Bacar said the MRT needs actual upgrades of its ageing systems that were not properly maintained by the long-time former sub-contractor Sumitomo-TES Philippines (TESP) from 1999 to 2012.

“The problems won’t be solved by yet another audit or study, even if it’s conducted by the Hong Kong MTR or whichever group they can think of,” he said.