MRT-3 maintenance contract up for bidding

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is set to bid out a three-year maintenance contract worth P2.25 billion for the aging Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3) whose operations have been marred by accidents and breakdowns.

DOTC undersecretary Catherine Gonzales said interested foreign and local companies have until Oct. 13 to submit their bids for the project.

Gonzales, also head of the department’s Bids and Awards Committee secretariat, said the DOTC is set to hold a pre-bid conference on Sept. 9.

“To ensure that the MRT-3 System operates under safe running conditions with on-time and reliable performance in providing convenience to all passengers, while still effectively maintaining cost at a minimum level, the DOTC MRT-3 is inviting bidders for a three-year maintenance service provider contract,” she said in the invitation to bid.

Gonzales added that the agency would conduct an open competitive procedure using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria as specified in the revised implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 9184 otherwise known as the Government Procurements Reform Act.

The 16.9-kilometer mass transit system along EDSA was constructed as part of a strategy to alleviate traffic congestion along EDSA. The rail system had a fleet of 73 modern and air-conditioned rail cars built by CKD Doprovni System of Prague in the Czech Republic.

It was completed in July 2000. It was designed to carry 350,000 passengers a day but now services around 540,000 passengers daily or about 55 percent over its design capacity.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the government has decided to bid out a longer maintenance contract as the current one-year contract awarded to a maintenance provider is too short.

Abaya earlier said the DOTC would likely extend by at least two more months the one-year maintenance contract of Autre Potre Technique Global Inc. (APT) set to expire on Sept. 5.

Last Aug. 13, a train of MRT-3 overshot the Taft Ave. station and slammed into a concrete barrier, injuring at least 36 passengers.

The DOTC traced the accident to human error and is now initiating administrative cases against two train operators and two control center supervisors for failing to follow standard operating procedure.

The DOTC has also decided to limit the speed of trains running in the system to 40 kilometers per hour from the current 55 kph to 60 kph. It has set stricter safety and operational procedures and policies including immediate evacuation of passengers in case of emergencies.

The DOTC is now upgrading the signaling and power systems of the mass transit system and bidding out a P836.5-million contract to upgrade MRT-3’s ancillary systems.

Representatives of Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock of China have already presented the design of the new trains being procured for MRT-3.

The DOTC awarded a P3.8-billion contract for the acquisition of 48 brand new trains for MRT-3 last January after the Makati City regional trial court denied the plea of Metro Rail Transit Corp.’s MRT Holdings Inc. to stop the awarding of the MRT-3 capacity expansion project to the Chinese firm.

The Aquino administration is in the middle of a P56- billion equity value buyout of the private shareholders of MRTC for the complete takeover of the mass transit system along EDSA.