4 groups qualify to submit bids for LRT 2 contract

MANILA, Philippines–The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Monday qualified all four groups—led by prominent Filipino conglomerates and their foreign partners—seeking to bid for the long-term operations and maintenance contract under the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT 2) public-private partnership (PPP) deal.

That means the consortia led by San Miguel Corp., Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Aboitiz Equity Ventures and DMCI Holdings have been allowed to submit their actual bids by the third quarter of 2015, DOTC spokesman Michael Sagcal said in a text message.

“We are pleased to have a competitive number of experienced international rail companies partnered with reputable local firms vying for this project, which is envisioned to deliver world-class services to LRT 2 riders,” Sagcal said Monday.

San Miguel partnered with Korea Railroad Corp., DMCI unit D.M Consunji Inc. partnered with Tokyo Metro Co. of Japan, Aboitiz Equity Ventures joined forces with Singapore’s SMRT Transportation and Ayala-Metro Pacific-led Light Rail Manila partnered with France’s RATP Dev.

The qualification process is meant to determine which groups will be allowed to submit technical and financial offers.

The LRT 2 PPP deal calls for the private sector to operate and maintain the existing line for 10 years, extendable by another five years.

The 13.8-kilometer LRT 2 line runs from Recto Avenue to the Depot on Santolan Street along Marcos  Highway. It traverses the cities of Manila, San Juan, Quezon, Marikina and Pasig.

The railway line handled almost 200,000 people a day in 2014, the latest data from the Light Rail Transit Authority showed.

This is the second elevated railway deal to be auctioned under President Aquino’s cornerstone PPP program.

The government awarded in 2014 the P65-billion LRT 1 Cavite extension project to the consortium of Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific. That deal, which failed in its first round, also drew four interested groups, although in the end, only Ayala-Metro Pacific made an offer.