DOTr says construction of LRT-2 extension project now 61% complete

The construction of the Light Rail Transit line 2 (LRT-2) East Extension Project is now 61 percent complete, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Wednesday.

The DOTr said the project, which will add four kilometers of railway tracks from Santolan in Pasig City to Masinag in Antipolo City, is already at 61.93% completion rate as of June 2019.

The LRT-2 extension project will feature two stations – the Emerald station, along Marcos highway and adjoining Gil Fernando and Felix Avenues, and the Masinag station, near Sumulong highway in Antipolo City, Rizal.

The DOTr said the building of the elevated viaduct is already 100 percent complete, while the design and build of the two additional stations are currently ongoing.

“The Emerald Station in Marikina is 89.51% complete while the Masinag Station in Antipolo is at 86.86% complete,” the agency added.

Once operational, it is expected to significantly reduce the travel time from Antipolo to Claro M. Recto in Manila to 40 minutes from the current three hours.

The DOTr is targeting to begin its operations by the fourth quarter of 2020.

https://www.untvweb.com/news/dotr-says-construction-of-lrt-2-extension-project-now-61-complete/

Building the MRT 7 common station

Department of Transportation (DOTr) representatives join construction partners during a media tour of the partially completed facilities of the MRT 7 Common Station at the North Avenue in Quezon City on Wednesday. Headed by EEI Corporation AVP Vicente Gaya, the partners and media were briefed and shown the main concourse, Levels 1 and 2 of the MRT 7, which are part of the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build project.

MRT-7 partial operations to happen in 2021, not 2020 —DOTr

By JOVILAND RITA, GMA News

Commercial operations of the Metro Rail Transit System Line 7 (MRT-7) has been moved to 2021 from 2020, the Department of Transportation said on Wednesday, citing issues in right-of-way acquisitions.

“Para sa MRT-7 ang target natin partial operation will be end of 2021,” Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said in a press conference.

The department initially set the commercial operations of MRT-7 to start in 2020.

The partial operation of the new mass rail transit system will start in the last quarter of 2021.

Batan noted they are facing “big challenges” in acquiring right-of-way properties for the project.

“Isa po doon sa pinakamalaking challenges in implementing our infrastructure projects is really right-of way-acquisition,” Batan said.

However, the contractor and concessionaire are supposedly doing their best to speed up the construction by “working on workables” to meet the 2021 target.

“Based on the availability noong right of way natin, at this point in time, on track tayo in achieving ‘yung partial operability target natin by 2021,” Batan said.

The project was conceptualized in 2001, with the budget approved in 2009 and in place in 2016.

“Ang catch up that we are doing … it spans almost two decades,” Batan said. —VDS, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/701315/mrt-7-partial-operations-to-happen-in-2021-not-2020-dotr/story/

More trains coming; fleet to grow by more than 5 times

The government is planning to bolster the country’s fleet of operational train cars by more than five times by the end of the Duterte administration to boost connectivity and enable better and faster services across all rail networks nationwide.

Transportation Undersecretary for railways Timothy John Batan said the country’s rolling stock fleet of 221 operational train cars, also known as light rail vehicles or coaches, in 2016 is targeted to grow to more than 1,200 by 2022.

“As of today, we have already completed the order for an additional 369 additional train cars, with the 37 train cars of (the Philippine National Railways) starting delivery next month, 108 train cars for (Mass Rail Transit)-7 starting delivery toward the end of this year, 120 train cars for (Light Rail Transit)-1 starting delivery in the middle of 2020 and the 104 train cars for PNR Clark Phase 1 starting delivery in the fourth quarter of 2021,” Batan said.

In the next three months, the undersecretary said invitations to bid would also be published for three additional rolling stock contract packages for 600 additional train cars consisting of 304 commuter train cars for PNR Clark Phase 2 and PNR Calamba, 56 airport express train cars which will connect Clark International Airport to Makati in less than one hour and 240 for the country’s very first subway.

“Along with other orders that would be completed by 2020 for the 1,900-kilometer railway network that we are building throughout the country, under the leadership of Secretary (Arthur) Tugade, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) would have expanded our rolling stock fleet from 221 in 2016 to more than 1,200 train cars by 2022,” he said.

The DOTr yesterday signed the P12.1-billion contract for Package 3 of the PNR Clark Phase 1 with the joint venture of Sumitomo Corp. and Japan Transport Engineering Co.

Contract Package 3 of the 37.6-kilometer mass transit project that will connect Malolos, Bulacan to the National Capital Region pertains to the manufacture and delivery of a rolling stock fleet with a total of 13 train sets comprising of eight cars per train set.

The rolling stock will be designed to have a capacity of 2,242 passengers per train set, capable of running at 120 kilometers per hour.

Tugade said the train cars were originally scheduled for full delivery by the last quarter of 2021, but he requested delivery by no later than the third quarter of 2021.

He said the earlier schedule of delivery would make sure that the partial operability of the PNR Clark Phase 1 project covering the portion of Malolos to Valenzuela will happen by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021.

Contract Package 4 of the project, which entails electrical and mechanical works, is targeted to be awarded by yearend.

“So, by the end of the year, it is all systems go,” Tugade said.

Contract Package 1, which covers the construction of six stations – Solis, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Meycauayan, Marilao and Bocaue – and a depot, was signed last May 20 and is now in full swing.

Meanwhile, Contract Package 2 consists of the construction of three stations – Balagtas, Guiguinto and Malolos. Construction is in full blast as well after it was signed last Jan. 23.

Once the PNR Clark Phase 1 project is completed and fully operational by 2022, travel time from Manila to Bulacan will be reduced from one hour and 30 minutes to just 35 minutes, serving 300,000 passengers daily.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/07/17/1935446/more-trains-coming-fleet-grow-more-5-times

DOTr inks deal with Japanese JV on making of rail coaches for train coaches for Tutuban-Malolos railway

CLARK FREEPORT—The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and its Japanese partners, the joint venture of Sumitomo Corp. and Japan Transport Engineering Co. (J-TREC), on Tuesday signed the contract for the manufacture of train coaches for Package 3: Rolling Stock of the PNR Clark Phase 1 Tutuban-Malolos at the Marriott Hotel here.

The P12.1-billion supply contract was signed by Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade and PNR Chairman Roberto Lastimoso for the government, and Sumitomo Corp. General Manager Hiroshi Karashima, and J-TREC President Takao Nishiyama.

Tugade said the plan is to have eight trains per set to be manufactured by their Japanese partners.

“So that if we have 13 sets, we have around 104 trains similar to those and the capacity is 2,200. These trains will be traveling from Tutuban to Clark to Calamba,” Tugade said.

“This is the reason we are all here today, to sign an agreement where the prototypes you see will come into fruition by 2021,” Tugade added, pointing to the miniature prototype displayed at the venue.

He said the contract that was signed indicated that the trains shall be delivered in full by the end of the last quarter of 2021.

However, he said he prodded their Japanese partners to deliver the trains by the third quarter of 2021 instead of the last quarter, so that the Tutuban-Clark-Calamba route can be realized at the end of the year 2021.

“Let me tell you that this morning, prior to entering this room, I talked to Mr. Nishiyama in the presence of Jica [Japan International Cooperation Agency] and we have agreed to do a fast-track mechanism so that the trains committed to be delivered on the fourth quarter of 2021 shall be delivered  no later than the third quarter of 2021,” Tugade said.

“Why are we doing this? Why are we agreeing to fast-track the manufacture of these trains? Because I have promised the President that we will have the partial operability of the Tutuban-Clark-Calamba by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021,” he explained.

“If the trains will be delivered by the fourth quarter of 2021, then I cannot operate the trains before 2021,” he reasoned.

“So, today the first agenda that we talked about prior to our coming here is to [forge] an agreement in principle that we will strive to work together so that the trains will be delivered on the third quarter of 2021.” This, he added, will ensure the “partial operability of the Tutuban-Clark-Calamba route” by the end of 2021, Tugade said.

The PNR Clark Phase 1 (Tutuban-Malolos) broke ground on February 15, 2019. The 37.6-kilometer, elevated mass railway system will connect Malolos to Manila and will entail 10 stations.

The trains can run up to 120 kilometers per hour, and reduce the travel time between Manila and Bulacan from over one hour and 30 minutes to 35 minutes once the system is fully operational by 2022.

The project is funded by Jica under a ¥241.991-billion or P93.457-billion loan agreement signed in November 2015.

The PNR Tutuban-Malolos line will be integrated with the PNR Malolos-Clark project and the PNR South Commuter—Manila to Calamba, Laguna, project—to form an integrated commuter railway system that will serve commuters traveling to, from, and within NCR, Region 3 and Region 4A.

The full interoperability of the entire PNR North-South Commuter Railway is expected to happen in 2023.

The signing was followed by the Japanese traditional ceremony, the Sake Barrel Breaking Ceremony, where Tugade made a toast to every guest with the traditional Japanese rice wine.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/07/17/dotr-inks-deal-with-japanese-jv-on-making-of-rail-coaches-for-train-coaches-for-tutuban-malolos-railway/