Performance-based pay, 22-year term await NSCR operator

The operator of the country’s largest railway project will receive a uniform rate based on performance and may be granted a concession lasting up to 22.5 years, according to the Department of Transportation.

- ELIJAH FELICE ROSALES

The DOTr has designated availability payments as the bid parameter for the P229-billion contract to manage the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), the country's largest infrastructure investment to date.

Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said the concessionaire may get up to 22.5 years of tenure, including partial operations, in running the NSCR.

"The approved contract period is for the pre-operations, partial operations, (plus) 15 years of full operations, for a maximum 22.5 years. Extension was not part of the approved parameters, terms and conditions for the project," Lopez told The STAR.

In using availability payments as the bid parameter, the DOTr will be assessing what investments bidders can commit based on predetermined fees.

This means the concessionaire will get paid regularly not from fares collected from passengers, but from budget allocated to the DOTr.