Marubeni to build $1B Philippine rail project

Commuters ride a makeshift trolley to traverse on a railway under the scorching summer heat. PHOTO BY RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines—A group involving Marubeni Corp. has won a billion-dollar contract to expand the Philippine capital’s railway system, the Japanese firm’s local partner said Tuesday.

Marubeni and a unit of DMCI Holdings Inc. is to build a 22-kilometer (13.7-mile) extension of Metro Rail Transit, listed DMCI disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

DMCI spokesman Elery Mendoza told AFP the project would cost around $1 billion and start early next year.

“It will most probably take 42 months for the entire system to be completed,” he added.

In Tokyo, Dow Jones Newswires quoted a Marubeni statement as saying it and DMCI received an order worth $1 billion to build railway tracks and stations in Manila.

The project is owned by San Miguel Corp., one of the country’s largest business groups.

It would extend the system to the densely populated Bulacan province north of Manila.

Manila’s light rail systems currently serve about 1.3 million commuters daily.