DOTC to add 120 trains for LRT-1

Photo of LRT-1 train taken from Metro Manila Roadway, an MMDA initiative (MMRoadway.com)

MANILA – The Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) will be having an additional 120 brand new light rail vehicles (LRVs) to be procured by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) through an official development assistance (ODA) funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“With the upcoming 11.8-kilometer extension of LRT-1 comes the need to add more trains to the system.

This will enable us to meet demand, and to maintain the right headway between arriving trains at the stations,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said in a statement.

“This is part of the massive modernization and upgrading efforts that have started not only for LRT-1 but for all our railways,” Abaya added.

Receiving an ODA loan from JICA, the bidding would be exclusive to Japanese train suppliers which will be submitting project management plans, design and development plans and inspection, testing and commissioning plans.

“The winning bidder will cover the technical design of the coaches, procurement of materials required for manufacturing the LRVs (light rail vehicles), and ensure compliance with technical specifications through testing,” DOTC said, adding that interested bidders may purchase bid documents starting on October 16 and participate in a pre-bid conference on October 30.

“The winning bidder will have three years to complete the delivery of the new LRVs, which will be done in two branches: the first delivery is set in 2017 and the second in 2018,” they added.

Once delivered, the 120 LRVs will be assembled into 30 trains.

The LRT-1 will then be fully operational by 2020.

Aside from the procurement of the new LRVs, the LRT-1 will also be pushing through with its P64.9-billion Cavite Extension Project, which aimed to extend the current 20.7-kilometer railway to a 32.4 rail line reaching Bacoor, Cavite from its Baclaran, Pasay City station.

Once the LRVs are assembled and the extension project is completed, LRT-1 will then have 250,000 daily passengers on top of its average daily commuter count of 500,000.

MRT-3 procurement

The Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3), on the other hand, has already received on August three prototypes of the 48 LRVs from Chinese firm CNR Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. Ltd. also procured by the DOTC. The new LRVs will undergo dynamic testing in November.

“We’re trying to speed up the deliveries as well… It’s more really on assembling all the components to speed up delivery,” Abaya earlier said.

The newly assembled trains for MRT-3 were similar to old trains, except that they had slightly wider spaces to accommodate more passengers.