MRT to be privatized starting 2027

MANILA — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is pushing to privatize the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) starting mid-2027.

In a statement, the DOTr said it will bid out the P103.6-billion MRT-3 concession this year, and it hopes to award the concession by mid-2027.

The DOTr said payments to the concessionaire will depend on meeting performance standards like train availability and reliability, on-time performance, and the cleanliness and proper maintenance of trains and facilities.

The DOTr, however, stressed that it will maintain authority over train fares.

“Ang kailangan natin dito ‘yung may matagal (nang) experience sa pagpapatakbo ng riles para sa kapakinabangan ng mga komyuter,” said Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez. “At lilinawin ko po, mananatili pa rin sa DOTr ang pagtatakda ng pamasahe,” he stressed.

Lopez also said that the MRT-3 will be offered to the private sector as a stand-alone line and will not be bundled with the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2). In 2023, the government said it was thinking about bundling the operation and maintenance of MRT-3 with the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2).

The government’s build-lease-transfer agreement with Metro Rail Transit Corp., the private consortium that built the MRT-3, expired in 2025.

The MRT-3 carries more than 388,000 passengers daily across 13 stations along EDSA.