DOTC to bid out P1.7-billion single railway ticket project

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has started the bidding process for the P1.7 billion contract to establish a single ticketing system that will make commuting through the EDSA-bound Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2 easier and more convenient for riders.

The DOTC will make eligibility documents available to bidders starting today, sources said, adding that the submission of the pre-qualification documents was set on Feb. 14, 2013.

The MRT-LRT single ticket is envisioned to be like Hong Kong’s Octopus Card, which serves as a debit card aside from being a stored-value train ticket.

The different ticketing schemes employed in the LRT Lines 1 and 2 and the MRT 3 have been blamed for the long lines of passengers buying tickets at the train stations.

The MRT line, which runs from Baclaran in Pasay City to North Avenue in Quezon City, services around 500,000 passengers per day – way above its capacity of 350,000.

On the other hand, LRT Line 1, which runs from Baclaran in Pasay City to Roosevelt in Quezon City, serves at least 500,000 passengers daily while the LRT line 2, which operates from Recto in Manila to Santolan in Pasig City, caters to 350,000 passengers.