The government of Philippines has postponed the submission of pre-qualification documents for the P65.1-billion (US$1.39 billion) Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 6 PPP project as it needs more time to look into the details of the deal.

Noel Kintanar, Transport undersecretary for rail, said the Department of Transportation’s Bids and Awards Committee would be issuing a notice on the new date for the submission of the pre-qualification documents for the project.

Kintanar said the government wants to ensure railway projects including the LRT-6 are financially viable when offered to the private sector for bidding.

The LRT-6 was rolled out under the PPP program by the previous administration.

The project involves the development of a 19 km elevated railway that will link Niyog, Bacoor, the terminus of the LRT 1 CAVEX extension, and Dasmariñas City. To be more specific, the project includes:

• Architectural, detailed engineering, systems design and construction of 19 km rail line from Niyog, Bacoor city to Dasmariñas city
• Procurement, testing and commissioning of all requires rolling stock, equipment and support infrastructure
• Operations and maintenance to the LTR 6 system to ensure minimum performance services standards under a 30-year concession agreement
• Project enhancement works covering whole-of-life investment for the project

Under the deal, the private partner will have a 30-year cooperation period with the government including five years to complete the construction of the railway.

Among the winning bidder’s responsibilities are the financing, design, construction, operations and maintenance, as well as the procurement of rolling stock for the train system.

The project is expected to improve passenger mobility as well as reduce vehicular traffic in the Cavite area.

It is not he first time the government has delayed the submission of pre-qualifications. As we reported in March, the Philippine Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) postponed the pre-qualification stage of the tender process project from March 4, 2016 to May 12.