DOTr, Canadian firm sign deal for MRT-3 signaling system

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) yesterday signed an agreement with a Canadian company for the procurement of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) signaling spare parts and maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3).

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with officials of Bom- bardier along with Canadian Ambassador John Holmes in Pasay City.

But the DOTr clarified that the Bombardier would only be the service provider for the spare parts and the maintenance works of the MRT-3 signaling system.

The DOTr has terminated its contract with previous service provider Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) after it failed to purchase and maintain a sufficient inventory of OEM signaling spare parts, purchased and installed non-OEM parts and upgrade the MRT-3 signaling system.

“Japan pa rin. But the existing signaling system of the MRT-3 is Bombardier. Hence, the MOU,” Tugade said, apparently referring to Japanese service provider Sumitomo, which is reportedly in talks with the DOTr to be the new MRT-3 service provider.

Aly Narvaez, media relations officer of the MRT-3, said no bidding was held in getting back the services of Bombardier as it has the proprietary rights over the signaling system of the train system.

“Bombardier holds the exclusive proprietary rights to supply new signaling components. It designed and implemented the MRT-3 signaling system as soon as MRT-3 was constructed,” Narvaez said.

Bombardier is the company that designed, supplied, commissioned and maintained the MRT-3 signaling system during the first 12 years of its operations. Bombardier is the OEM and proprietary rights owner of the Cityflo 250 Light Rail and Metro Signaling Solution, which is the signaling system used in the railway system.

The last seven-month contract of Bombardier with the MRT-3 overlapped with BURI’s deal in December 2017.

The MRT-3 terminated its contract with BURI in November last year due to poor performance. The MRT-3 created the Maintenance Transition Team (MTT) while waiting for the next service provider.

The DOTr said Bombardier would help in restoring the reliability of the MRT-3 signaling system, which is among the causes of unloading incidents at the railway system.

The MRT-3 reported seven signaling system failures in various train stations last month.

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