The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Thursday a total of 34 bids were submitted for the contract packages of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Calamba Project.
The 34 were from six Filipino companies and 17 foreign firms. They were bidding for six packages of the railway project.
Local groups that submitted bids are: D.M. Consunji Inc.; EEI Corporation; First Balfour Inc.; Megawide Construction Corporation; Prime Metro BMD Corporation; and Santa Clara International Corporation.
The foreign groups that participated in the auction are: China Construction First Group Corporation Ltd. (China); Chun Wo Construction (Hongkong); Leighton Contractors (Asia) Limited (Hongkong); DL Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. (South Korea); Dong-ah Geological Engineering Company Ltd. (South Korea); GS Engineering & Construction Corp. (South Korea); Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. (South Korea); Lotte Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd. (South Korea); POSCO Engineering & Construction (South Korea); and Samsung Construction & Trading Corporation (South Korea).
These foreign groups also joined the bidding: PT Adhi Karya (Persero) Tbk (Indonesia); PT PP (Persero) Tbk (Indonesia); PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk (Indonesia); Gülermak Ağır Sanayi İnşaat ve Taahhüt A.Ş. (Turkey); Acciona, S.A. (Spain); Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd. (Thailand); and Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd. (Japan).
“This record-breaking turnout of bidders is yet again an indication of the trust and confidence of both the local and international infrastructure sectors on the Duterte Administration’s Build Build Build Program, which champions a transparent, fair, and efficient bidding process through a joint implementation by the DOTr, PNR, and the Procurement Service of the DBM,” Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said.
Together, all six contract packages will see the development of 40.5 kilometers of viaduct structures, including thirteen elevated stations and a 22-hectare train depot.
Tugade said five more contract packages for the PNR Calamba Project are set for the opening of bids later this year. These include civil works packages for five stations, underground tunnel works, electromechanical systems and airport express train cars.
PNR Calamba is part of the larger 147-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Project, which will stretch from Calamba, Laguna to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga. When completed, it will be equipped with 464 train cars, and will cut travel time between Calamba and Clark to 1.5 hours from 4 hours.
The railway program is funded by an official development assistance package from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
Currently, construction is “at full swing” for the northern segment, which involves 90 kilometers of rail and 16 stations.
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