Wazzup Pilipinas!
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) are procuring 120 brand new Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) for LRT Line 1, which currently runs from Roosevelt in Quezon City up to Baclaran in Parañaque City, and is about to be extended to Bacoor, Cavite.
The project will be funded through a loan extended by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The bid will be exclusive to Japanese-led companies or consortia.
“With the upcoming 11.8-kilometer extension of LRT-1 comes the need to add more trains to the system. This will enable us to meet demand, and to maintain the right headway between arriving trains at the stations. This is part of the massive modernization and upgrading efforts that have started not only for LRT-1 but for all our railways,” said DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya.
These 120 LRVs will be configured in thirty (30) 4-car train sets, to allow the rail line to accommodate up to about 750,000 passengers daily. The winning bidder will cover the technical design of the coaches, procurement of materials required for manufacturing the LRVs, and ensure compliance with technical specifications through testing.
The supplier will be required to submit a project management plan, design and development plan, as well as an inspection, testing and commissioning plan, in order for implementation to run smoothly.
Prospective bidders may begin purchasing bid documents today, October 16, while a pre-bid conference is scheduled on October 30. The submission and opening of bids is scheduled on December 14.
The winning bidder will have three (3) years to complete the delivery of the new LRVs, which will be done in two tranches: the first delivery is set in 2017, and the second in 2018.
Meanwhile, the Light Rail Manila Consortium (LRMC) will construct the Cavite Extension over the next 4.5 years, making the entire line operational by Q4 2020. LRMC has been operating and maintaining the existing LRT-1 system since these functions were handed over by LRTA last month.
LRTA remains as regulator of the railway, and along with the DOTC, as implementing agency of the 32-year public-private partnership (PPP) concession agreement with LRMC.