Sumitomo to come in August as MRT3’s rehab contractor

CLARK, Pampanga—Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. and its technical partner, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, will start rehabilitation and maintenance works on the glitch-plagued Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) in August, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Tuesday.

“Sigurado na. Darating na ‘yung Sumitomo next month,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said in a press conference here.

For his part, Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Timothy John Batan said the loan agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), covering the cost of maintenance services to be incurred, will be signed “within August.”

Sumitomo will start working on the rehabilitation of MRT3 after the loan deal has been signed.

During the 43-month rehabilitation and maintenance of MRT3, the number of trains may be reduced to 12 from the present average of 15 to 16 trains running per day.

“Habang ginagawa ‘yan in ... 43 months, ang train lang po na tatakbo is 12 trains,” Tugade noted.

“Ang ibig sabihin hind natin maa-achieve ang gusto natin na 500,000 per day ridership.”

Expect better service

The Cabinet official gave the assurance that after the rehabilitation works are done, commuters may expect better service from the mass rail transit system such as a shorter headway or waiting time for the next train to arrive and pick up passengers, faster running time of trains, and better air-conditioning.

In December last year, the governments of the Philippines and Japan have exchanged a series of notes verbale on a government-to-government agreement for a Japanese service provider to take over the maintenance and rehabilitation of MRT3.

The DOTr earlier estimated the rehabilitation cost at ¥34.480 billion or P16.985 billion.

The rehabilitation will cover the trains, the power supply system, the radio system, the CCTV system, the public address system, and the signaling system.

The contractor is also expected to fix the rail tracks, road rail vehicles, depot equipment, elevators and escalators, and other station building equipment.

The overall rehabilitation of MRT3 is expected to take 43 months—31 months for simultaneous rehabilitation and maintenance works and 12 months for the defect liability period. —VDS, GMA News