The Department of Transportation (DOTr) now plans to privatize the operations and maintenance of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) and Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2), separately.
“The bundling may not be appropriate at this time, because the markets are different, and we still need to rehabilitate and expand LRT line 2. We need to expand it to the west going to the South Harbor by 5 kilometers, and we need to expand it to Cogeo to cater more to the eastern part of Metro Manila,” DOTr Undersecretary for railways Jeremy Regino said.
“The best approach in MRT-3 might not be the same approach to LRT Line 2. So, we’re looking into all options, and we’re looking into the figures,” he added.
Regino said the International Finance Corp. is studying the LRT-2 privatization, while the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is looking at MRT-3 privatization.
“The fastest conclusion of the feasibility studies will be around the end of this year,” he said.
The DOTr initially planned to combine LRT-2 and MRT-3 into a single privatization package, once the build-lease-transfer agreement with Metro Rail Transit Corp. for MRT-3 expires by 2025.
The government operates MRT-3, while the MRTC, owned by Metro Rail Transit Holdings II Inc. led by businessman Robert John Sobrepeña, was responsible for the design and construction of the EDSA rail transit system.
Formed in 1995, MRTC started building MRT-3 in October 1996, completed it in December 1999 and started full operations in July 2020.
MRTC and the government through the Department of Transportation and Communications signed the BLT agreement in 1997 to construct and maintain MRT-3.
The partnership required the DOTr to hold the franchise and run the system, particularly the operation and the collection of fares.
MRTC built the system, maintained the same to guarantee the availability of the trains at specified headway and specified hours and procured the required spare parts, while the government paid MRTC monthly fees for a certain number of years.
MRTC financed the construction of the modern rail system stretching along EDSA’s 10.5-meter median from North Ave. in Quezon City to Taft Ave. in Pasay City. The company infused P4.49 billion worth of equity into the project.
The train system was designed to carry more than 23,000 passengers per hour per direction, initially.
LRT Line 2 was built at a cost of P31 billion in soft loans mainly from the government of Japan. It is a 13.8-km. mass transit line that traverses the cities of Pasig, Marikina, Quezon City, San Juan and Manila along the major thoroughfares of Marcos Highway, Aurora Boulevard, Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, Legarda and Recto Ave.
