Consultant for LRT-2 nears deal

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said on Tuesday that a single consortium has edged out four other groups for a consultancy contract aimed at extending the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) eastward to Cainta, Rizal.

Transportation secretary Joseph Abaya said on Tuesday that Foresight Development and Surveying Co., in partnership with Soosung Engineering Co. Ltd. and Korea Rail Network Authority submitted the lowest bid at P247.4 million during the bid opening on Nov. 8. This was lower than the P350 million approved budget for the contract.

There was still a post-qualification process but Abaya said they are looking at awarding the contract next month.

“The [technical working group] will now evaluate the financial proposal,” Abaya said.

The DOTC said earlier the project involved the extension of the existing LRT-2 by 4.2 kilometers to the east, or from the Santolan station along Marcos Highway in Pasig to Masinag, Cainta in Rizal.

The project will involve the construction of an elevated viaduct and two additional stations.

LRT-2 is a 13.8-km transit line that runs through five cities in Metro Manila, namely, Pasig, Marikina, Quezon City, San Juan and Manila. The train serves almost 200,000 passengers per day on average.

Foresight Development and its partners edged out four other groups.

These were Schema Konsult Inc. in partnership with Perconsult International, KE Asia Inc., DCCD Engineering Corp., Key Engineers Co. and Pronconsult Inc.; Systra Philippines in partnership with Philipp’s Technical Consultants Corp.; Science and Vision for Technology Inc. in partnership with Yooshin Engineering Corp.; J.F. Cancio and Associates in partnership with Development and Engineering Management Corp., Engineering and Development Corp., Filipinas Dravo Corp., TCGI Engineers, Urban Integrated Consultants Inc. and Oriental Consultants Co. Ltd.

Moving forward, the DOTC could decide to separately expand LRT-2 to the port area in Manila, Abaya said.