Pre-bidding for P65-B LRT-6 project scheduled this month

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is set to hold the pre-qualification conference for the P65.09 billion Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 6 public private partnership (PPP) project this month.

In General Bid Bulletin 01-2016, Edwin Lopez, DOTC Undersecretary and chairman for the Pre-qualification, Bids and Awards Committee said the pre-qualification conference for the project is scheduled on Feb. 15, at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria in Ortigas.

The LRT Line 6 deal covers the construction of the proposed 19-kilometer railway from Bacoor (the terminus of the LRT Line 1 Cavite extension) to Dasmariñas City.

The proposed railway covers seven stations such as Niyog, Tirona, Imus, Daang Hari, Salitran, Congressional Avenue, and Governor’s Drive.

The winning bidder will be in charge of the financing, design as well as construction of the rail line.

The project is being implemented to improve passenger mobility and reduce the volume of vehicular traffic in the Cavite area as many of its residents travel to Manila either for work or education.

Among the firms that are considering to participate in the project are Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).

Based on the indicative timetable for the project, the submission of the pre-qualification documents by interested bidders is set on March 4.

Meanwhile, the DOTC has also issued the guidelines for the special site visit of the LRT 2 for another deal being offered under the PPP program.

In General Bid Bulletin 23-2016, the DOTC said each bidder to the LRT 2 Operations and Maintenance Project is required to propose their own schedules for the special site visit of the train system.

The special site visit would cover the following: running and downed trains; overhead catenary systems; power system; building systems; signalling and telecom systems; depot; maintenance management; safety, security and general concerns; and operational concerns of the train system.

Under the project, the private sector would handle the operation and maintenance of the existing LRT 2 which covers Santolan station in Pasig City until Recto station in Manila, the construction of the 4.14-kilometer East Extension, and any other future extensions of the train system during the project’s term.

Ayala Corp. managing director John Eric Francia told reporters earlier there are some questions which need to be ironed out on the LRT 2 project citing the rehabilitation component.

Ayala Corp., MPIC, RATP TRANSDEV Asia, and RATP Developpement SA are part of the Light Rail Manila Holdings 2, Inc. Consortium, one of the pre-qualified parties to bid for the project.

Other groups that have been pre-qualified are Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. - SMRT Transport Solutions Consortium; D.M. Consunji, Inc. - Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. Consortium; and San Miguel Holdings, Corp. - Korea Railroad Corp. Consortium.