The Department of Transportation (DOTr) expects the bidding for the operations and maintenance (OandM) of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) and the privatization of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) to be completed next year, with the timelines possibly extending into the second quarter of 2027.
Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said the NSCR bidding is targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2027 based on the current schedule, but this could move to the second quarter depending on approvals.
‘Based on the timeline, first quarter next year,’ Lopez told reporters on the sidelines of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) Infrastructure Forum. ‘If we can start this year… maybe, let’s say, second quarter next year.’
In January, the DOTr said it expected to award the NSCR operations and maintenance (OandM) contract by the fourth quarter of 2026, with bidding set for July to August and a target contract award in October 2026.
In July, Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said the bidding for the P229-billion concession would likely draw around 10 offers from Philippine, French and Japanese conglomerates, and that the DOTr would close submissions by the end of September and announce a winning bidder before the end of the year.
Partial operations of the NSCR between Valenzuela and Malolos are targeted to begin in December 2027, with the Malolos-to-Clark segment expected to open by October 2028.
Batan earlier explained that the DOTr needs the winning contractor to prepare and mobilize in time for the target partial commencement of operations.
The NSCR is co-financed under official development assistance by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
For MRT-3, whose privatization proposals have been submitted to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, Lopez said the OandM bidding would likely follow a similar track.
‘Same siguro, second quarter,’ he said, noting that bundling the MRT-3 with Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) is not an option at this point, describing them as separate undertakings.
In May, Lopez said the DOTr aimed to award the MRT-3 contract between June and July 2027, with the winning bidder taking over operations of the rail line by October 2027.
The concession is expected to run for 20 to 25 years at an estimated project cost of $800 million, or around P48.22 billion, and the would-be operator will be tasked with raising the line’s ridership from more than 1.3 million passengers per day.
A market sounding held at the ADB headquarters drew interest from 74 local and international companies from 14 countries.
The MRT-3 has been under government control since the build-lease-transfer agreement with the Sobrepeña-led Metro Rail Transit Corp. expired in July 2025.
Lopez noted that the schedules set with the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) may shift if bidders raise questions or supplemental bid bulletins are needed. He added that foreign-funded projects require extra steps, such as securing a letter of no objection from the ADB.
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‘Sometimes, even if you put a timeline, if there’s like a meritorious reason… not to push through with the date of opening of bid, because there are like bid questions, we need supplemental bid, the timeline adjusts,’ he said. ‘It’s quite complicated, not the usual bidding that we know under the procurement law.’