$1.4-B MRT-7 to be listed in 2004 IPP

The $1.4-billion project that will extend the Mass Rail Transit line all the way to Bulacan is due for approval by the Investment Coordinating Committee by December, in time for inclusion in the 2004 Investment Priority Plan (IPP).

The project, dubbed MRT-7, has been endorsed to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), which prepares and heads the ICC, together with other economic agencies of the government.

According to former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo, president of the consortium that will undertake the project, the project has been slated for discussion by the ICC and approval is expected by December.

MRT 7 had been tabled for discussion in the last meeting of the ICC but sources said it was deferred pending the verification of some assumptions that were made in the financial projections. The consortium, Universal LRT Corp., is composed of Alstom Transportation of France, the world’s second largest transportation system provider; Alstom Signalling of the United States; Redfort Assets Ltd., representing SM Investment Corp. and PentaCapital Management Corp., the Merlin Pacific Capital Inc. Group; Earth Tech, a member of Tyco International Group of the US; Engineering Equipment Inc., a member of the Yuchengo Group; TCGI Engineers’ and E.L. International Holdings Group and a group of Israeli investors.

After being approved by the ICC, MRT 7 will go through the mandatory Swiss challenge, a bidding mechanism allowing other interested entities to submit offers challenging the original proponent. When completed, MRT would run along Commonwealth Ave. in Quezon City up to Tala in Caloocan City, and the adjoining municipality of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan. The consortium would initially bring in capital worth $350 million once the government approves the project.

The project would also involve a housing component that would construct several towers with units of 36-50 square meters each.

MRT 7 would likewise involve the construction of a bus-rail transfer hub to be located at the Tala Caloocan-North, connecting the line to the North Luzon Expressway by a private highway that the consortium would build. It would also connect to Light Railway Transit Line 1 and 2 through the MRT 7’s elevated railway transit system.

The project is expected to ultimately help decongest the traffic build-up along the north section of the Epifanio de los Santos Ave. (EDSA). De Ocampo said that without the mass transport facilities along EDSA, buses coming from the north alone would number more than 15,000 a day.