posted February 03, 2016 at
11:55 pm by
Darwin G. Amojelar [
thestandard.com.ph]
Five major local and
foreign companies have purchased bid documents for the P171-billion south rail
project under the public-private partnership program.
PPP executive director
Cosette Canilao identified the interested companies as Ayala Infrastructure
Holdings Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., San Miguel Holdings Corp.,
IL&FS Transport Networks Ltd. of India and US-based Fluor Daniels Pacific
Inc.
IL&FS is one of India’s
leading infrastructure development and finance companies, while Fluor Daniels
is an engineering, procurement,
construction, maintenance and project management company.
North-South Railway Project
The bid submission for the
P171-billion south line of the North-South Railway Project was rescheduled on
March 31, 2016 from Feb. 1.
The Transportation
Department originally set the bid submission date for the project on Oct. 15,
but deferred it to Dec. 1 and later to Feb. 1.
The project will revive
the oldest rail system in Southeast
Asia, beginning with the Manila-Legazpi section plus additional branch lines
spanning 653 kilometers.
The winning bidder will
operate, maintain and upgrade the south line for 34 years, including the construction
period of four years.
Under the project’s terms,
the winning bidder will take charge of designing, constructing, financing,
operating and maintaining the 56-kilometer commuter rail service, for daily
riders on the Tutuban, Manila to Calamba, Laguna route and the 478-kilometer
long-haul rail service, for travelers on the Tutuban to Legazpi, Albay route.
The long-haul service may
also have extensions from Calamba,
Laguna to Batangas City and from Legazpi to Matnog, Sorsogon.
Transportation Secretary
Joseph Emilio Abaya earlier said the south line would be the agency’s “biggest
project yet.”
“This project will impact
directly on a grassroots level. Those who have less in life, especially farmers
and fisherfolk, will be given efficient means to expand their livelihood. This
is our biggest project yet, and this is for those who need it most,” Abaya
said.
Once the entire railway is
operational by 2020, there will be 10 daily trips with seven train sets passing
through 66 stations.
It is expected to serve
316,000 passengers a day in its opening year and encourage around 44,000 public
and private vehicle owners to leave their vehicles at home and instead use the
modern railway.
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