Segment of South Commuter Railway line awarded to Leighton joint venture

THE GOVERNMENT has awarded the civil engineering, tunnel and building works contract for a segment of the South Commuter Railway (SCR) to the joint venture of Leighton Contractors (Asia) Ltd. and First Balfour, Inc., the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said.

Leighton Contractors (Asia), a Hong Kong-based unit of Australia’s CIMIC Group Ltd., and its Philippine partner First Balfour, were named the successful bidder for Contract Package S-03b (CP S-03b) of the SCR, the DoTr said.

In a notice of contract award, issued on Monday, the Transportation department said that the contract has an estimated total value, inclusive of provisional sums and value-added tax, of P23.92 billion.

The notice also provided a breakdown of the project cost by currency as follows: P21.92 billion, $14.63 million, and €21.38 million, with the duration of the contract set at 2,160 calendar days.

The contract covers the civil engineering, tunnel and building works for the 6.1-kilometer (km) railway, 4.7-km underground railway and 1.4-km at-grade railway.

CP S-03b will also include the building of station where the railway stops at the Food Terminal, Inc. property, as well as tunneling works to connect to the Metro Manila Subway Project Senate Station.

Once completed, the 54.6-km railway line connecting Metro Manila and Calamba, Laguna will help ease road congestion and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

SCR will have 18 stations in total starting from Blumentritt, Manila and ending in Calamba.

On Feb. 17, the Transportation department issued the notices of award for CPs S-01 and S-02 to the joint venture of Indonesian firms PT Adhi Karya (Persero) Tbk. and PT PP (Persero) Tbk. and the Acciona Construction Philippines, Inc. and D.M. Consunji, Inc. joint venture, respectively. 

CP S-01, worth P11.62 billion, covers the civil engineering works for a 1.2-km railway viaduct, including an elevated station at Blumentritt, while the P28.3-billion CP S-02 covers a 7.9-km railway viaduct as well as the España, Santa Mesa, and Paco, Manila stations. — Justine Irish D. Tabile