Stock News 2013: MRT, LRT fares may go up in August

Manila MRT Ayala Station in Makati City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A long-overdue fare increase at Metro Manila’s three elevated rail systems could take effect as early as August as the government seeks to recover part of its operating costs from the heavily subsidized train lines, according to Secretary Joseph Abaya of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC).

But Abaya said in a round-table discussion with INQUIRER editors and reporters on Wednesday that the planned P10 average increase for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2 and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 would be done in two equal stages through 2014.

This means fares, which were last adjusted in the early 2000s, will increase by P5 in 2013 while the second P5 increase will kick in next year.

“This increase has been long delayed so we are about to execute it. The matrix for LRT 1 requires us to catch up,” Abaya said.

“It was discussed a year ago in the budget hearing and it was taken as a set, all three railway lines,” he added.

“It should happen planning-wise in August or within the year.”

The announcement of the fare increases comes amid severe criticism of the LRT-MRT operations—coaches with passengers woefully packed like sardines most times of the day and long queues to the stations during rush hours.

For example, MRT 3 was designed to serve 350,000 passengers per day, but some 600,000 people cram the system daily.

A 1.3-kilometer stretch of the line on north Edsa—from Muñoz to Trinoma—has yet to be connected, three years into the Aquino administration.

Former Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas proposed a fare increase earlier in 2011, but it was met with opposition from critics who pointed out that managing public transport was a government function.

Critics say that no mass transportation system anywhere in the world makes money, quite apart from Hong Kong. But in this Chinese enclave, revenues come mainly from shop rentals in the mass transit railway stations, they add.

Reports showed earlier that the entire P10 average fare hike will happen this year but the DOTC secretary said the agency decided to “break it up” into two parts over two years.

Even with the fare increase, the LRT lines and MRT 3 come out “cheaper” than rates charged by bus operators, which are pegged at P40 per passenger, Abaya said.

The government is calculating that ridership at the train lines, which serve over 1.3 million passengers daily, will not be substantially affected by the rate increase.

The current fare at MRT, which runs through Edsa, Metro Manila’s main highway, is pegged at a maximum of P15 per passenger. For LRT 1, passengers are charged up to P20 each for a single journey; for LRT 2, the rate is pegged at P15.

http://business.inquirer.net/128269/mrt-lrt-fares-may-go-up-in-august-abaya

Related articles

• Free LRT, MRT rides on Independence Day (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• RILES Network slams MRT 'crowd control scheme' as prelude to fare hike (bulatlat.com)
• LRT 2 resumes operations (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• It's a boy! Baby born in LRT train (rappler.com)
• SMC appeals disqualification from P1.7B LRT smart card project bidding (business.inquirer.net)
• Only Chinese firm left in bidding for MRT expansion (business.inquirer.net)
• Homeless man hit by MRT train (rappler.com)
• Suicide leap on train tracks 5th since 2011 (newsinfo.inquirer.net)

Stock News 2012: Palace OKs proposed gov’t takeover of MRT-3

Manila MRT-3 Train (type Tatra RT8D5) approaching Ayala Station in Makati City. Self-taken. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

President Aquino has approved the Department of Transportation and Communications’ plan to take over the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, which was estimated to cost the government roughly $1 billion.

“It was approved yesterday (Monday) by the President and consented by the concerned Cabinet secretaries present in the meeting,” Transportation Secretary Jose Emilio Abaya said in a briefing on Tuesday.

Abaya said the President and the members of his Cabinet discussed and approved in principle the DOTC’s plan to buy out the private sector’s stakes in the commuter train system. Abaya said the “de-privatization” plan would cost the government about $1 billion.

The DOTC said the state takeover of the facility would spare the government from covering the 15-percent return on investment guaranteed to the MRT concessionaire.

MRT concessionaire Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC), the consortium that built MRT-3, is controlled by Metro Pacific Investments Corp., the listed holding company in the Philippines of Hong Kong-based First Pacific group.

Although the government owns 80 percent economic interest in MRTC, through Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, its voting rights are less than those held by the private concessionaire.

The consortium operating MRT-3, through special purpose vehicle MRT II Funding Corp., earlier raised funds via the issuance of MRT bonds. The bonds were bought by private corporations but were later bought back by DBP and LBP.

“We will be buying the bonds from DBP and LBP. It’s like retiring the bonds,” Abaya said. He added that the $1 billion estimated cost included the cost of buying back the bonds.

The buyout will take place next year, he said.

In the meantime, Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan said his group would not stand in the way of the government’s planned buyout of the MRT line.

In an interview, Pangilinan said he would respect the government’s decision and would continue to support the administration’s infrastructure program.

The Pangilinan group, through Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), owns the majority of the voting shares in MRT Corp., the private sector consortium that holds the train line’s concession contract. Despite controlling MRTC’s board, MPIC only holds a fraction of the MRT line’s economic benefits.

http://business.inquirer.net/98791/palace-oks-proposed-govt-takeover-of-mrt-3

Related articles

• MRTC board committed to cooperate with DOTC (opinion.inquirer.net)
• MRT-3 saga continues: Gov't may want MVP out (rappler.com)
• Abaya confirms MRT fare will go up next year; groups plan street protests (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• MVP to respect govt's decision on MRT-3 issue (rappler.com)
• Abaya: No increase in MRT fare until services have been improved (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• Abaya confirms P10 fare hike in MRT-3 in 2013 (rappler.com)
• Honasan cautions Abaya on raising MRT fares (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• Signaling system 'obsolete': Sumitomo urges gov't to halt MRT operations (business.inquirer.net)
• Stock News: SMC, MPIC clash on road projects (investingstocksinphilippines.blogspot.com)
• No improved MRT service, no fare hike (opinion.inquirer.net)

Stock News 2012: Bidding for MRT 3 expansion faces delay

English: Platform area of J. Ruiz LRT Station of the Manila Light Rail Transit System with an entering MRT-2 train. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) needs time to study if there is a need to seek the approval of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.(MPIC) before bidding out additional light rail vehicles (LRVs) for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 system, an official said.

DOTC undersecretary Rene Limcaoco told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Economic Briefing yesterday that the department is still looking into the contract of the government with the MRT operator to see what needs to be done before it sets the bidding for the expansion of the MRT 3 system.

“We’re studying the contracts to determine what needs to be done,” he said.

Among the things they are looking at is whether the department would have to get the consent of the MPIC which holds an economic interest in the Metro Rail Transit Corp., the owner and operator of the MRT 3.

“We’re studying whether that approval is needed,” Limcaoco said.

Earlier this month, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board approved the MRT 3 capacity-expansion project.

The project, which costs P8.63 billion, involves the acquisition of an additional 52 LRVs as well as the implementation of required ancillary works, to enable operating the MRT 3 system at a four-car train configuration.

The MRT 3 spans North Avenue station in Quezon City until Taft Avenue station in Pasay City.

Limcaoco also said the DOTC would endorse soon to the NEDA Investment Coordination Committee the common ticketing system project for Lines 1 and 2 of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the MRT 3 soon.

He declined to give more details on the schedule.

The LRT Line 1 runs from Roosevelt station in Quezon City until the Baclaran station in Pasay City, while Line 2 is from Santolan in Pasig to Recto in Manila.

Limcaoco said it would be up to the winning bidder if it would want to add features to the ticket.

Earlier, DOTC Secretary Manuel Roxas II said the department was looking at having a ticket similar to Hong Kong’s octopus card, which would not only be used for transport, but could also be used to purchase goods in convenience stores.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=849985

Related articles

• Planned MRT, LRT fare hikes in 2013, passing of burden of government debts to commuters (bulatlat.com)
• 3 major roads in Makati, Quezon City, Pasay flooded - MMDA (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• MRT, LRT fare hike likely next year (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• MRT, LRT fare hike is wrong says Solon (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• Urban poor groups urge Roxas to implement Robredo's plans (bulatlat.com)