Government mulls sale of MRT 3MANILA, Philippines — The government plans to privatize not only the operations, but also the assets of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), as it can no longer afford to spend P9 billion yearly for the maintenance of the railway. For 2018 and 2019, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) had to cut the number of trips in the rail line to repair the train cars. Sobrepeña-led Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) is set to transfer the railway to the government by 2025 under the build-lease-transfer agreement for the MRT-3. The deal has tasked the DOTr to handle the collection of fares and the MRTC to maintain the rail line and its train cars. Infrawatch PH convenor Terry Ridon has urged the DOTr to properly price the MRT-3 before putting it up for sale, especially as privatizing the rail line means letting go of fare revenues as well.
