Spare parts ordered for MRT 3 rehab

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and its Japanese contractors have already started procuring the spare parts needed for the 26-month-long overhaul of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 system.

Both parties issued an update to clear up misconceptions that the start of the rehabilitation project had been delayed following a Palace briefing on transport issues on Wednesday.

What was delayed, explained Transport Undersecretary TJ Batan, was the DOTr’s P4-billion advance payment to MRT 3’s maintenance provider,  Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy.

The advance payment was supposed to cover the cost of spare parts for the rolling stocks and signaling system to kick start the rehabilitation that began last month.

Cause of delay

But the continued delay in the passage of the 2019 General Appropriations Act also impeded the payment, forcing Sumitomo-Mitsubishi to temporarily shoulder the cost until Congress had approved the budget, Batan said.

The procurement of spare parts is the first phase in a yet to be disclosed timeline for the 43-month rehabilitation project  worth P21 billion. It will be partially funded by an P18-billion loan agreement from Japan.

The parts would begin arriving sometime between June and July, Batan said. In the meantime, MRT 3 and Sumitomo-Mitsubishi had already started conducting maintenance work using the spare parts that arrived last year, he added.

Both parties would also start slow-rolling rehabilitation work on MRT 3 facilities, which was also covered by the rehabilitation project.