Bombardier to supply 396 metro cars to Singapore

SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority has ordered 66 six-car trainsets for the North-South and East-West lines from Bombardier.

The contract announced on July 25 is worth S$827m. The value would rise to S$1·2bn if an option is exercised for service support for their design life of 30 years. The rolling stock would replace the 66 trains that have been in service on the two lines since they opened in 1987.

Deliveries from Bombardier’s Changchun factory are due to begin in 2021. The trains will be designed in Germany, with design co-ordination to be led by Bombardier’s team in Singapore.

Interior features would include more multi-function spaces, with tip-up seats. The trains would also be fitted with sensors for condition-based predictive maintenance, and a self-test system that automatically checks whether a train is fit for operation before commencing service. Four of the trains will be fitted with automatic track inspection equipment.

Bombardier is to establish a centre of excellence in Singapore with local partners. The aim is to bring local sub-suppliers to provide obsolescence management and maintenance support more easily.

Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway up for NEDA panel approval

If the proposed CTBEX is approved, the Department of Public Works and Highways says construction might start next year and be completed by 2022

The proposed 50.42-kilometer Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway (CTBEX) is moving forward with the awarding of the original proponent status to Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) South.

On Thursday, July 26, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced it had granted the status to MPTC South, an infrastructure unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC).

The company had submitted the unsolicited CTBEX proposal to the government.

Under the country's build-operate-transfer (BOT) and procurement laws, the government deals with unsolicited proposals through a Swiss challenge. This is when the government invites private groups to make competing offers, while giving the original proponent the right to match them.

Now that the original proponent status for the CTBEX has been awarded, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said they have to seek the approval of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee (ICC).

If the NEDA ICC approves the project, it would go to the NEDA Board, chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte. Once the NEDA Board gives the go signal, a Swiss challenge can be conducted in the 2nd quarter of 2019.

"We expect to start construction by next year. This year, we are going to the NEDA ICC process. Once we go to the Swiss challenge, we start with the project," Villar told reporters.

The project is estimated to cost P22 billion, including right-of-way acquisitions. The DPWH expects the construction to be completed by 2022.

The CTBEX will start at the Silang East Interchange of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX).

It will have 8 major interchanges traversing Silang, Amadeo, Tagaytay City, Mendez, Alfonso, and Magallanes in Cavite; and Tuy and Nasugbu in Batangas.

The CTBEX is expected to help decongest Aguinaldo Highway in Cavite and the Tagaytay-Nasugbu Road, potentially diverting some 23,000 vehicles.

Once completed, travel time from Governor's Drive in Dasmariñas City, Cavite to Nasugbu, Batangas would be cut down to 44 minutes from the usual one hour and 42 minutes, while Sta Rosa City, Laguna to Tagaytay City would only take 46 minutes.

Travel time from Manila to Tagaytay would also be reduced from two and a half hours to around an hour.

https://www.rappler.com/business/208252-cavite-tagaytay-batangas-expressway-for-neda-panel-approval

MPTC’s Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas expressway project gets OPS

In photo are DPWH Undersecretary for planning and PPP Maria Catalina Cabral, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, and president and CEO of Metro Pacific Tollways South Luigi Bautista.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) yesterday granted the original proponent status (OPS) to the 50.42-kilometer Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway (CTBEx) project of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC).

“This is one of the first projects we will grant OPS for DPWH in this administration. This is a sign that the Build Build Build of our President is all systems go,” Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said.

Villar said the project was given the OPS because of its significance in addressing congestion in the CALABARZON area.

“Travel time going to Tagaytay and Nasugbu from Manila will be cut short so this will really help ease congestion,” he said.

The P22.43 billion CTBEx will connect from the west of Silang East Interchange of the Cavite Laguna Expressway and will pass through Silang, Pook, Amadeo, Tagaytay, Mendez, Alfonso, Magallanes, Tuy and Nasugbu.

The project was conceived in early 2016 in line with MPTC’s desire and commitment to help bring progress to the western part of Southern Luzon.

 “This awarding of the OPS status of CTBEx is just the beginning, we are cognizant that this proposal will still be subject to NEDA approval, successful negotiation with DPWH on the terms of the concession and lastly, a Swiss challenge. All of which should be completed by the second quarter of 2019, and subject to the acquisition of the right of way; 2020 is the target date of construction,” said Luigi Bautista, president and CEO of Metro Pacific Tollways South, a business unit of MPTC.

 “Once completed, CTBEx will be the preferred route for motorists going to Tagaytay and Nasugbu from Manila and vice versa as this will seamlessly connect to CALAEx and CAVITEx,” Bautista said.

MPT South is currently constructing the Cavite Laguna Expressway which will connect to CAVITEx and the C5-Southlink that will enable transfers from Laguna, Cavite, Manila, Las Piñas, Parañaque and Taguig to be seamless.