Palace: Plan to shut down MRT-3 needs careful study

MANILA, Philippines - Any plan to shut down the Metro Rail Transit 3 – even temporarily – can have serious implication and thus needs careful study, Malacañang said yesterday.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya was quoted as saying he was ready to suspend operations of the MRT-3 to give way to maintenance work, especially on safety systems.

“We will wait for an actual recommendation from Secretary Abaya to be discussed with the President, because that certainly has implications, especially on our riding public,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing.

Valte said the President would rather wait for a formal recommendation from Abaya before making a decision.

She added there were no discussions as well on the possibility of raising train fares in order to pay for the repair and maintenance of MRT-3.

According to reports, spare tracks for the ailing line had diminished to 2.5 pieces from 29 pieces in 2013. Without spare rail pieces, the train’s safety is at risk.

The MRT-3 earlier this week halted its operations for more than an hour due to a defective track.

Some experts have warned that the elevated train system “may collapse anytime” due to poor maintenance.

MRT Holdings Inc. II (MRTH-II), the majority shareholder of MRT Corp., also said passenger safety should always be the priority. 

MRT officer-in-charge Renato San Jose said work is underway to fix the dilapidated tracks. He explained that the rails used by the MRT-3 have the same specifications as those of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2.

The DOTC is currently pursuing a P54-billion takeover of the line’s corporate owner.

The buyout of the train system’s private concessionaire is expected to put to a close the ongoing arbitration case in Singapore between the government and the concessionaire. MRTC filed an arbitration case in Singapore against the Philippine government in January 2009 due to the latter’s erratic payment of equity rental.

It, however, lost another case over the decision of the DOTC to award a P3.8-billion contract to CNR Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. of China for the supply of 48 brand new light rail vehicles for MRT-3.

This will also terminate the concession agreement and end the government’s obligation to pay billions of pesos in equity rental to MRTC.

Once the buyout is completed in 2016, the transport agency may then bid out an operations and maintenance contract for the line.

Since 2004, the train system has been operating at overcapacity. Currently, the line serves nearly 550,000 passengers per day. It even reached, at one point this year, the 650,000-daily passenger mark. It has a rated capacity of 350,000 daily passengers.

The private stakeholders of the MRT-3 urged government to prioritize the replacement of worn out rails instead of pushing through with the planned equity value buyout.

Lawyer David Narvasa, spokesperson for MRT Holdings Inc. which owns MRTC, said the P53-billion buyout was not the answer to the problem with lack of rails.

“Buy rails instead of bonds,” Narvasa said.

Narvasa said that in October 2012, Sumitomo Corp. turned over 86 pieces of rails to the incoming maintenance provider – the joint venture of Philippine Trans Rail Management and Services Corp. and Comm. Builders and Technology Philippines Corp. (PH Trams-CB&T).

Allan Ortencio of the Global APT said they could not procure additional rails because there was not enough time in their one-year contract to procure a minimum order of 500 pieces of rail.

Narvasa said procurement of rails should be part of the maintenance contractor’s responsibility, adding that 60 percent of Sumitomo’s $1.4-million contract was meant to procure spare parts including rails.

“What must be done is to get a technically competent and financially capable maintenance provider,” Narvasa said when asked what could have caused the depletion of spare rails. 

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino said yesterday a subway may ease traffic congestion in the metropolis.

“There are plans to have a subway done by Japan, it is in the works,” Tolentino said, referring to a study done by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) indicating that a Metro Manila subways project is “economically viable.”

Tolentino said the establishment of a mass subway system is part of the P2.3-trillion transportation infrastructure plan for Metro Manila presented to the Cabinet by JICA in February this year.

The subway line, which according to JICA would be 40 to 70 kilometers long, would connect Bulacan to Cavite province. The project is expected to be done in phases.

“When you speak of modernization, I think big corporations should also be in play because the government probably might find it long and difficult to shoulder the cost of a mass transit system,” he added. – With Mike Frialde, Christina Mendez