A dozen companies revealed their keen interest to bid for the Light Rail Transit Line 2 operations and maintenance (O&M) project when they showed up for the pre-qualification conference last week.
These companies are Miescorrail, Hyundai Rotem Company, TUV Rheinland, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, RATPDEV, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, San Miguel Corp., MTR Hong Kong, Marubeni, SMRT Corp., DMCI, and AC Infra.
Stressing the importance of the project, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla in a statement said, “In line with the government’s objective to make everything more efficient, more nimble and address the needs of the people in Metro Manila—this project was conceived and being offered to the private sector to do the operation and maintenance.”
For the LRT Line 2 project, the private sector will take on the responsibility of operating and maintaining the existing line, as well as the line’s 4.14-kilometer extension eastward to Masinag, and all other future extensions the government may undertake. Since it is a public-private partnership arrangement, the government will retain ownership of the LRT facility.
Prospective bidders are given until November 20 to submit their qualification documents, while submission of bid documents is likely to be set for May or June of 2015.
The LRT Line 2 is the second rail project of DOTC to be tendered this year.
Another rail project, the P423.3-million maintenance contract for the LRT Line 1, met a different fate when not a single entity submitted a bid, causing it to be declared a failed bidding.
Other projects that DOTC has awarded include the LRT Line 1 Cavite extension, operation and maintenance; the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal Building; and the Automatic Fare Collection System, a no-contact common ticketing system to be installed at all MRT, LRT Line 1 and LRT Line 2 stations.
Photo from www.lrta.gov.ph
