Six Philippine companies led by Megawide Construction Corp., D.M. Consunji Inc., EEI Corp., First Balfour, Santa Clara International Corp. and Razon Group’s Prime Infra and 17 foreign firms submitted bids to build the P344.6-billion PNR-Calamba Project, the Department of Transportation said Thursday.
The agency said it received a record-breaking turnout of 34 bids from six Philippine companies and 17 international companies that intend to participate in contract packages of the PNR-Calamba Project involving the construction of 40.5 kilometers of viaduct structures, including 13 elevated stations and a 22-hectare train depot.
The DOTR, the Philippine National Railways and the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management held the bid submission and opening for Contract Packages S-01 and S-02 and Contract Packages S-04, S-05, S-06, and S-07, respectively on July 14 and 15.
The local companies that offered bids for the contract packages were Megawide; DMCI; EEI; First Balfour; Prime Metro BMD Corp., a joint venture of Prime Infra and Australia’s BMD Group; and Santa Clara International Corp.
Among the foreign companies that submitted bids were China Construction First Group Corporation Ltd., Chun Wo Construction (Hong Kong), Leighton Contractors Asia Limited (Hong Kong), DL Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. (South Korea), Dong-ah Geological Engineering Company Ltd. (South Korea), GS Engineering & Construction Corp. (South Korea), Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. (South Korea) and Lotte Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. (South Korea).
Other foreign companies were POSCO Engineering & Construction (South Korea), Samsung Construction & Trading Corp. (South Korea), PT Adhi Karya (Persero) Tbk (Indonesia), PT PP (Persero) Tbk (Indonesia), PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk (Indonesia), Gülermak Ağır Sanayi Ä°nÅŸaat ve Taahhüt A.Åž. (Turkey), Acciona S.A. (Spain), Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd. (Thailand) and Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. Ltd. (Japan).
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the impressive turnout of bidders for the PNR Calamba Project’s contract packages was proof of the infrastructure sector’s trust in the government’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.
“This record-breaking turnout of bidders is yet again an indication of the trust and confidence of both the local and international infrastructure sectors on the Duterte administration’s ‘Build, Build. Build’ program, which champions a transparent, fair, and efficient bidding process through a joint implementation by the DOTr, PNR, and the Procurement Service of the DBM,” Tugade said.
The DOTR said five more contract packages for the PNR Calamba Project were set for the opening of bids later this year.
The opening of bids for the project’s civil works packages S-03A, S-03B and S-03C which involve the construction of at-grade and viaduct structures with five stations, underground tunnel works and the construction of a station to be integrated with the Metro Manila Subway Project are expected by the third quarter.
It said the opening of bids for contract packages involving the project’s electromechanical systems and airport express train cars would also be in the third quarter.
The 56-kilometer railway project is expected to serve at least 340,000 passengers a day during its partial operations. Ridership is expected to increase up to 550,000 passengers once the railway is on full operation by 2028.
The PNR Calamba Project is part of the longer 147-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway System which has 35 stations from Calamba in Laguna to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga. The NSCR System will have a fleet of 464 train cars or 58 trains sets, including seven Airport Express train sets.
The NSCR System intends to cut travel time from Clark International Airport to Calamba from more than 4 hours to just 1.5 hours.
Travelers from Makati will also be able to reach the Clark International Airport in less than 1 hour aboard the Airport Express train service. The NSCR System can initially accommodate up to 1 million daily passengers.