EDSA light rail rehab could cost $150M, major stakeholder of MRT Holdings says

Roberto Sobrepeña, chairman of Fil-Estate Corporation which is majority stakeholder in MRT Holdings Inc., presented to the Senate committee on public services on Wednesday a $150 million plan to rehabilitate the EDSA MRT rails and the 73 coaches or light-rail vehicles that run on those tracks.

 

“Our proposal entails a complete rehab of the entire MRT system, the rails and all the 73 trains or LRVs on it... this will be substantially completed in 18 months,” Sobrepeña said.

 

Sobrepeña said that based on their estimate, the complete overhaul of the MRT system would cost about $98 million or P4.5 billion, which he said, “will be invested by the private sector.”

 

Aside from the immediate overhaul of the rails and LRVs, Sobrepeña said their proposal also includes two-year “special” maintenance of the system 

 

“The rehabilitation and the two-year special maintenance will have a budget of $150 million that would include P2.2 million a month over a period of 24 months, it would also include another overhaul within the next eight years,” the executive said.

 

The rehabilitation works will also involve the comfort rooms, escalators, elevators, cables and communication systems.

 

According to Sobrepeña, MRT-3’s former maintenance provider Sumitomo Corp. has already expressed interest to participate in the project.

 

“The operation and maintenance will go to the private sector under a management agreement with DOTC. The cost will be paid by the private sector from its revenue shares, government will not spend,” Sobrepeña said.

 

Sobrepeña said the revenue sharing with DOTC for the proposed project will be based on MRTC’s existing build-lease-transfer (BLT) contract with the department.

 

Senator Grace Poe said that while the plan seems promising she would rather that the commuting public not shoulder the extra burden in the form of fare increases.

 

“This sounds very promising but we are also told that something too good to be true is not also good,” Poe said.

 

Sobrepeña responded that if there would be any increase in the current MRT fare, it would not be higher than the current bus fare.

 

“If there would be any cost to be shouldered (by the public), it would be along the lines of how much the government has already planned. Secondly, it will never be higher than the existing bus fare. I think a trade off for safety, a trade off for efficiency, is a good trade off for as long as the fares do not go beyond the bus fare,” Sobrepeña said.

 

DOTC undersecretary Jose Perfecto Lotilla, who was also present in deferred  comment on the proposal as he has yet to see its details, but promised that Transportation and Communication Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya will look into the matter and probably set a meeting with MRTC early next year.  — Elizabeth Marcelo/ELR, GMA News