The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is pushing through with the private turnover of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, aiming to award the MRT-3 concession by the second quarter of next year.
The DOTr plans to start the bidding for the P103.6-billion concession of the MRT-3 by mid-2027, Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said.
The concession will require the would-be operator of the MRT-3 to raise its service reliability. It will also cover improving fleet availability and reducing waiting times.
Lopez said the MRT-3 would be offered to the private sector as a standalone line. This means the initial plan of bundling its contract with the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) has been scrapped.
The MRT-3 serves more than 388,000 passengers daily through 13 stations along EDSA.
Apart from this, the DOTr is rushing to finish the bidding for the P229-billion concession of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) by mid-2027.
The NSCR, costing P873.6 billion and co-funded by Japan, will run for 147 kilometers between the Clark International Airport in Pampanga and Calamba, Laguna.