The Department of Transportation said Thursday it plans to launch a bidding for the operations and maintenance contracts of two major railway projects in the fourth quarter this year.
“We are currently developing two operations and maintenance concessions together with Asian Development Bank and Public Private Partnership— one with Metro Manila Subway Project and the second is for North South Commuter Railway System,” DOTR Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said in a virtual briefing sponsored by the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines.
Batan the agency was expecting an approval from the National Economic and Development Authority to bid out the O&M for the two projects by the third quarter of 2021.
He said the launching of the O&M bidding for Metro Manila Subway and NSCR will be in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Batan said the East Valenzuela station, PRI Building and depot of the Metro Manila Subway were expected to be completed by 2022. “We are getting a private operator [for Metro Manila Subway],” he said.
Dubbed as the “Project of the Century,” the P355-billion underground rail line is expected to serve 370,000 passengers daily in its first year of full operations.
Once completed and fully operational, the Metro Manila Subway Project will have 15 stations, including a terminal station at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
The whole Metro Manila Subway is seen to be completed by 2024 or 2025.
The 147-km North-South Commuter Railway System, which will run from Clark in Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna, is expected to be completed by 2024.
The PNR Clark Phase 1 segment of NSCR, or the Tutuban-Malolos line, was scheduled to be partially operational by December 2021. It will be followed by the PNR Clark Phase 2 project, a 53-km northern segment.
