Govt Considering Privatization of MRT 3

The government is deliberating privatizing the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), including both the assets and operations as it can not sustain its annual ₱9 billion for maintenance.

Data shows that in the last 22 years, from 2000 to 2021, has spent over ₱8.93 billion each year on maintenance and operations.

In this period, the annual revenue averaged only ₱1.72 billion, only 19% of the yearly expenses.

After the fare revenue reached an all-time high in 2017 of ₱2.78 billion, this decreased for the next three years.  For 2018, it was ₱2.07 billion, for 2019, it was ₱1.91 billion, and for 2020, it was ₱604.27 million. In 2018 and 2019, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) needed to repair the train cars and lessen the number of trips. Back in 2020, the MRT-3 had limited operations due to the hard lockdowns caused by the pandemic.

With the decrease in revenue and increasing expenses, Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez has mentioned that the DOTr plans to sell the MRT-3 to the private sector and deliberating on whether assets would be included as well.

“We don’t have a defined scope for the privatization yet, [as] we need to first determine if we are privatizing just the O&M only or also including the assets,” said Chavez

“All options are being studied, but the direction is to privatize MRT-3,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) will transfer the railway to the government in 2025 under the MRT-3 build-lease-transfer agreement. The agreement gives the DOTr jurisdiction over fare collection while the MRTC is tasked with the maintenance of the train cars and rail lines.

Source: Philstar