The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is bidding out a P750-million contract to refurbish and provide spare parts for the Philippine National Railways (PNR), which last week started limited operations after its derailment led to an almost three-month suspension.
The DOTC, in a published notice, said the contract covered the refurbishment of diesel multiple units, with an approved budget of P378.9 million, as well as for the diesel electric locomotives, with an approved budget of P150 million.
The deal also includes a P221-million contract for the supply and delivery of capital spare parts for the diesel multiple units, the notice read.
The DOTC said the contract covered nine diesel multiple units, which should be refurbished over a period of 24 months.
It added that the supply of spare parts was required in nine months after the issuance of the notice to proceed. The bid documents will be available from July 30 through Aug. 21, 2015. The bid submission is set on Aug. 21, 2015, it added.
The PNR resumed operations Thursday last week after the government noted that safety concerns earlier flagged by third-party consultant TUV Rheinland have been “satisfactorily addressed.”
The DOTC said that the commuter service will only cover the Tutuban-Alabang route while works are still being implemented on other sections of the tracks. So far, repair works on the Alabang and Calamba, Laguna stretch are still ongoing.
PNR, which serves about 70,000 people per day, is at the center of the Aquino administration’s biggest public private partnership project thus far, which aims to revitalize what remains of Southeast Asia’s oldest railway line.
The government recently rolled out plans for the P170.7-billion South Line of the PNR’s North-South Railway Project.
The massive deal involves 653 kilometers of railway lines, including a link from Metro Manila to Legazpi, Albay. It is expected to be completed by 2020.
In a separate notice, the DOTC also invited bidders to participate in its P298-million Road Transport Information Technology Infrastructure Project Phase 2.
The bid will be a two-stage process with the winner to “finance, design, install, operate and maintain” the IT infrastructure of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
“The computerization efforts will help clean up existing data of the LTFRB and enhance its data collection and processing,” the DOTC said. It added that the project aims to “lessen the processing time for its transactions, promote and improve access to public information and provide channels for feedback.”