German firms-backed group vies for MRT-3 rehab

A German-backed consortium has made a P4.65-billion unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate and upgrade the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, a railway line in Metro Manila which has been suffering from heavy congestion and operational glitches.

A letter to the Department of Transportation and Communications dated Feb. 20 showed that the venture was led by Schunk Bahn-und Industrietechnik GmbH and HEAG mobilo GmbH. The local partner was identified as Comm Builders and Technology Philippines Corp.

The Filipino firm was linked to an earlier venture with Philippine Trans Rail Management and Services Corp. which is under investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman over an alleged anomalous MRT-3 contract, a statement last year of the Office of the Ombudsman showed.

The current Schunk Group-led venture proposal was received by the DOTC on Feb. 25, the letter showed. The proposal was for the rehabilitation to be completed within three to four years with “limited downtime.”

In the letter, Schunk Group and HEAG were described to be world-renowned companies with more than 100 years of experience in railways. HEAG, specifically, has more than a century of experience in managing and operating “mostly all modes” of transportation in Darmstadt, Germany, the letter showed.

Some key points of their proposal were detailed in the letter. The proponents said the system rehabilitation of MRT-3 would consider a “limited” downtime of “four hours considering that MRT-3 is functional and that operations are not to be disrupted.”

The train line currently services more than half a million people per day, already above its designed capacity of 350,000 per day.

Other points mentioned were having a single point responsibility/entity to control the rehabilitation; the “efficient and experienced” participation of parts integrators and sourcing from a global network; members’ experience with similar systems, and additional stabling area for 48 brand new trains.

The trains are scheduled for delivery starting this year by Chinese manufacturer Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company.

The German-backed offer is the second such offer made public after Metro Pacific Investments Corp., led by businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, made a separate proposal to upgrade, expand and operate MRT-3.

Key features of that proposal showed that MPIC was offering to spend $524 million (P23 billion), partly to expand and rehabilitate the railway line. The company is also seeking the extension of the build-lease-transfer term of MRT-3’s private sector owner Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) by 15 years to 2040.