DOTC to acquire more train coaches for MRT 'soon'

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will soon release procurement guidelines for the purchase of 48 new coaches for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT)-3 along EDSA, even as the government will look into acquiring secondhand units to expedite the process, the agency's top official said Wednesday.   "We're publishing soon the procurement of new coaches. There are 48 coaches," DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya told reporters at the sidelines of the Philippine Economic Briefing. Abaya said the government has already earmarked some P4.5 billion for the new coaches. The procurement process will last up to six months, and the manufacture of new coaches will last two to three years, the Cabinet official noted. Abaya, however, said they are also looking into buying secondhand units from Spain in order to fast-track the acquisition of new trains. "There's an option to buy secondhand trains in Spain," he said. "A small team of three will be leaving this February 20 to check if the trains in Metro de Madrid will be compatible and if the timing will be faster than outright purchase," Abaya added. Spain has offered to sell their second-hand trains for MRT-3 while the DOTC is in the process of acquiring new light rail vehicles (LRVs). MRT-3 services about 500,000 passengers daily, exceeding its rated capacity of about 350,000 passengers. The rail transit has a fleet of 73 Czech-made air-conditioned rail cars, of which 60 three-car trains operate daily while the others are undergoing maintenance. In September last year, Malacañang and the board of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) approved the MRT-3 capacity expansion project involving the acquisition of additional LRVs. — BM, GMA News