The government will enter into a negotiated deal for the three-year maintenance contract of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 in a bid to resolve congestion in the system.
“We’re finally finishing the TOR [terms of reference] for the MRT3 maintenance contract,” MRT 3 general manager Roman Buenafe said.
Buenafe said he expected to start the negotiation with the new maintenance service provider after securing approval from the Government Procurement Policy Board and the National Economic and Development Authority.
“What we need from the GPPB is approval of the P4.2 billion contract from P2.4 billion. We are now including the general overhaul of the trains and replacement of the signaling system,” he said.
Buenafe said the target was to award the contract by the third quarter of 2015.
The Transportation Department declared a second failed bidding in January for the three-year maintenance contract of MRT 3.
The auction failed after none of the prospective bidders made an offer. Those included Busan Transport Corp, Mosan-Inekon Phils Ltd Co, SMRT International Pte Ltd, Miescorrail Inc and D.M. Consunji Inc.
Global-Autre Porte Technology has been maintaining the MRT 3 based on a contract that the agency rolls over every month.
Running from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City, MRT 3 is serving nearly 500,000 passengers per day, way beyond its rated capacity of 350,000.
At present, the rail system has a fleet of 73 Czech-made air-conditioned rail cars, of which only 24 three-car trains operate daily because other trains need repair.
