Austria, Germany, Czech Republic to donate 2nd-hand trains to RP

The Philippines on Tuesday said three foreign governments have expressed willingness to donate 30 second-hand light rail vehicles for the expansion of the Metro Rail Transit 3. Department of Transportations and Communication undersecretary for Rail Transport Guiling A. Mamondiong said Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic want to donate second-hand cars for the "emergency capacity expansion" of MRT 3 system. "We expect to complete to finalize the donation arrangement this year," Mamondiong said. Mamondiong said the MRT 3 urgently needs more LRVs because of the increasing passenger use of the line, which runs above the Epifanio delos Santos Ave., from North Avenue station in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay. Passenger traffic on the line is expected to swell to 600,000 to 700,000 daily by 2010. The official said the second-hand trains will need to be refurbished at a cost of between $1 million and $2 million. Aside from the 30 LRVs which will be donated, Mamondiong said his office has also proposed to the purchase of 48 more vehicles to the National Economic and Development Authority in order to meet increasing ridership of MRT-3. The cost of the acquisition is estimated at $120.84 million, which will be funded by official development assistance.-GMANews.TV