The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) of the Philippines is planning to award a multi-disciplinary contract for the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) in June.
The six-month PHP342m ($7.6m) contract will include supply of a range of components, as well as operation and maintenance (O&M) of the congested mass transit system.
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The components include rolling stock, power supply, tracks and permanent ways, automated fare collection system (AFCS), communications, conyeance, and building facilities and equipment.
Several O&M contractors will be appointed next month to address the long queues passengers are experiencing at the MRT3.
Transportation secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya was quoted as saying: "We are awarding a multi-discipline contract for six months in June since the month-on-month contract is no longer feasible."
Abaya noted that the existing MRT3 maintenance provider Autre Porte Technique Global (APT Global) has only been deploying ‘eight to ten trains instead of the required 20 trains during rush hour’.
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By GlobalDataThe waiting time for trains was also extended from the regular four minutes to ten minutes.
Entered into commercial service in 1999, MRT3 was designed to accommodate 350,000 passengers a day. It currently carries about 600,0000 passengers a day.
The MRT-3 has 13 stations and it stretches 16.7km along EDSA from Taft Avenue to North Avenue in Quezon City.
According to Abaya, a prototype train from Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock of China is expected to be delivered in August.
The delivery is part of a PHP3.8bn ($85.11m) contract covering delivery of 48 new light rail vehicles (LRVs) to enable the frequency of trains every 2.5 minutes.
