LRT 1 deal bid process starts next week

Bidding for the biggest infrastructure project currently in the government’s plate will start next week, Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas said as he welcomed the private sector’s affirmation of support for the Aquino administration’s economic road map.

Roxas on Thursday said the government welcomed the partnership between conglomerates’ Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., formed to bid for big-ticket infrastructure projects.

The first and so far the most expensive of the state’s planned projects is the Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 1 extension to Cavite province—to cost an estimated P60 billion—which will be put on the auction block next week.

The LRT Cavite project, also known as the South Extension, aims to extend the 21-kilometer Roosevelt-to-Baclaran line by 12 more kilometers to Cavite. The Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) also wants to add more trains to handle the expected increase in ridership.

The DoTC said the project would be auctioned off in two phases. The first covers the construction of the overhead viaduct from Baclaran to Cavite, and the train stations located along the new section. The second phase will cover the installation of electromechanical equipment, including train tracks, power supply systems, ticketing machines, and the new train coaches.

The first phase is scheduled for completion by late 2014. Work on the second phase, which cannot start until the first is completed, is scheduled for completion by late 2015—just before the end of President Aquino’s term. Both phases will cost P30 billion each, with the first likely to be funded as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The second phase will likely be funded through an overseas development assistance or ODA loan, the DoTC said.