Inekon says Phl can save $5M/yr with new, modernized MRT trains

MANILA, Philippines - The Inekon Group of Czech Republic said the government will save at least $5 million a year as its proposal to modernize the existing fleet and at the same time provide new trains for the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT3) along Edsa would result in a more efficient operations.

Antonin Solar, project manager of Inekon, said that savings could reach $5 million a year due to the radical reduction of maintenance costs under its proposal to modernize MRT’s existing fleet of 73 light rail vehicles and supply 79 brand new trains.

 â€œEstimated savings for total fleet of 73 existing and up to 79 new vehicles is more than $5 million per year,” Solar said.

He pointed out that the 15-year old fleet of MRT is in constant need of maintenance works and at times a large number of coaches are decommissioned in order to be repaired or maintained.

As part of its proposal submitted to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the Inekon Group offered to totally overhaul the existing coaches to increase the efficiency of the original rolling stock by fully modernizing the fleet and refurbishing it to the latest, cutting-edge technology and at the same time minimize any disturbance of normal operations as refurbishment would be implemented during scheduled maintenance.

“In order to increase the efficiency of the existing original rolling stock, we propose to fully modernize the fleet to the latest technology while minimizing any disturbance to normal operations. The detailed schedule of works will be agreed with management to mitigate work impact on the system’s daily operation with minimum impact on the commuting public,” he said.

Solar said the proposal would drastically reduce the down-time of the modernized vehicles between 80 percent and 90 percent as well as the cost of maintenance of refurbished trains.

He explained that the revenues of the entire MRT system would be increased by drastically reducing down-time, maintenance costs and increasing capacity, accuracy, customer satisfaction and over-all efficiency.

At the same time, passenger experience would be enhanced by providing safe, comfortable, timely, clean efficient and aesthetically pleasing transportation.

Likewise, the official said the project would create jobs for the Filipinos as the maintenance would be performed by trained Filipinos.

Aside from significantly increasing and enhancing the operational capacity and revenues of MRT, Solar said Inekon’s proposal would more than double the existing passenger capacity of the mass transit system along Edsa.

Compared to the commissioning of other suppliers and manufacturers, Solar reiterated that the Inekon Group would provide fully interchangeable older and new vehicles with 100 percent compatibility between the modernized and the new vehicles.

Solar said Inekon is the sole successor and the OOTD (Owner of the Original Technical Documentation) of CKD Prague that supplied the existing MRT trains.

It also supplied city trains to Washington DC, Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland as well as many other mass transit systems in Europe, Africa, and Asia.