The Transportation Department has invited Japanese companies to bid for the P30-billion contract to supply 120 brand-new light rail vehicles for the oldest metro rail transit in Southeast Asia.
The agency said in an invitation to bid the project would be funded through a loan extended by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The Philippine government and JICA signed the loan agreement on March 27, 2013.
The Transportation Department said only engineering, procurement and construction companies of Japanese nationality were eligible to participate in the bidding pursuant to the rules for official development assistance funding.
The winning bidder will cover the coaches design, production, verification, delivery, testing, commissioning, technical support materials associated with the operation and maintenance of the vehicles and training for maintenance staff, engineers and operators.
The agency said interested parties can buy bid documents for the supply contract from Dec. 28 to April 13, 2017. The submission and opening of bids are set on April 13 next year.
The 120 LRVs will be configured in 30 four-car train sets to allow the rail line to accommodate up to 750,000 passengers daily.
The Transportation Department in March declared the bidding for 120 LRVs a failure after no offers were received by the agency from Japanese firms.
Marubeni Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. earlier expressed interest to participate in the auction for the procurement of 120 brand-new cars for LRT Line 1.
The government allocated P30 billion for the 120 new coaches for the LRT Line 1 under the P64.9-billion LRT Line 1 Cavite extension project, which was awarded to Light Rail Manila Corp.
LRMC will construct the Cavite extension over the next four and a half years, making the entire line operational by the fourth quarter of 2020.
LRMC, a joint venture between Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., has been operating and maintaining the existing LRT-1 system since the functions were handed over by Light Rail Transit Authority in September last year.
LRTA remains the regulator of the railway while the Transportation Department is the implementing agency of the 32-year public-private partnership concession agreement with LRMC.
The consortium would spend over P40 billion to rehabilitate and expand LRT Line 1.
Eight new stations will be provided with three intermodal facilities across Pasay City, Parañaque City, Las Piñas City and Cavite.
