EDSA railway needs 30 more cars

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) needs 30 more cars by 2010 to accommodate the growing number of commuters taking the train along EDSA everyday. MRT3 General Manager Roberto T. Lastimoso said this is a "measure of emergency" before the government acquires new coaches to augment the existing trains. "After 2010, the system might not function anymore because of overcapacity. We are now carrying 450,000 passengers a day. The system is designed to take only 350,000," Mr. Lastimoso told reporters Thursday. The government needs at least $90 million for the 30 additional cars. Options "We have given NEDA [National Economic and Development Authority] two options. It can be offered as a BOT [build-operate-transfer financing] or as a loan. They are now conducting due diligence exercise," said Mr. Lastimoso. NEDA Executive Director Augusto B. Santos was not available to comment Thursday. Mr. Lastimoso said the government has the option to choose from various train suppliers such as China, Belgium, Spain and even the Czech Republic, where the existing MRT trains were sourced. With the additional cars, the MRT will have trains of four coaches from the current three, and will carry an additional capacity of 30,000 passengers per direction daily. It will also reduce the waiting time to 2.5 minutes from the current three minutes. Aside from the 30 additional cars by 2010, Mr. Lastimoso said 43 new coaches should come in by 2013 as the number of train-riders is expected to expand further. - A. Lorenzo, BusinessWorld