Due to the high maintenance costs of ₱9 billion per year. The Philippine government is reportedly thinking of privatizing the assets of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 and how it is run (MRT-3).
From 2000 to 2021, data show that maintaining and running MRT-3 will cost the government at least ₱8.93 billion yearly.
In those 22 years, fine collection only brought in an average of Php1.72 billion annually, which is only about 19% of the yearly costs.
Rising ₱2.78 million in 2017, the revenue from fares has gone down for three years in a row, to ₱Php2.07 billion in 2018, ₱1.91 billion in 2019, and just ₱604.27 million in 2020.
Cesar Chavez, an undersecretary in the Transportation Department, said they plan to sell MRT-3 to the private sector and will decide if they will include MRT-3 assets in the deal. This is because MRT-3 costs a lot and brings in little money.
He also said that they are looking at different options, but that MRT-3 will be privatize.
Through a process called “build-lease-transfer,” the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) will give the train system to the government by 2025. Currently, the Transportation Department is in charge of collecting fares, and the MRTC is in order of maintenance.
In exchange, the government gives MRTC money from the fare money. But because of low income, the government has had to pay for it. When their contract ends in 2025, the DOTr will be on its own to take care of the MRT-3.
Terry Ridon of Infrawatch PH has told the DOTr that if they sell the MRT-3 without putting a fair price on it, they will lose money from fares.
Ridon, also on the House Committee on Transportation, said that selling the MRT-3 to the private sector would also mean fares would go up, which would hurt the public poorly.
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