Sumitomo, MHI and TES Philippines held a contract to maintain the system until 2012. However, since then the condition of the 17km line, which was built by a consortium of Sumitomo and MHI and opened in 2000, has deteriorated. There have also been issues with the procurement of spare parts, which have impacted train operation.
Under the contract, the joint venture and TES will conduct extensive repairs to the original fleet of 73 Czech-built trains, which have suffered deteriorating reliability, without impacting current operation. In addition, a new safe maintenance regime will be devised to maintain high operating rates once the repairs are completed.
Work on the 43-month contract is set to conclude in July 2022. The deal is worth around Yen 35.5bn ($US 32.6m).
As well as the Czech metro trains, the line is also set to be served by a fleet of 12 four-car trains manufactured by CRRC Dalian. The extra capacity will help ease pressure on the line, which is designed for 350,000 daily passengers but currently serves around 600,000 every day.
Manila is estimated to experience economic losses of around Pesos 3.5bn ($US 66.9m) per day due to traffic congestion. Rehabilitating Line 3, which has 13 stations, is expected to partly alleviate traffic congestion in the city.
