Mitsubishi has awarded a €1 billion contract to a consortium led by Colas Rail to design and build a turnkey rail system for Manila's first subway line. The $7.19 billion 35-kilometer line will run from East Valenzuela, north of Manila, to Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport with 15 stations. It is estimated that in the first year of operation in 2027, the average daily passenger flow will reach 370,000, and the travel time will be shortened by 1 hour compared with the highway. The project was partly funded by a $5.13 billion loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The Ministry of Transportation awarded Mitsubishi a $1.2 billion contract on February 14 to provide integrated rail systems and track engineering for the line. The DOTr announced on March 8 that underground work on the line will begin in the third quarter of this year, with the first tunnel boring machine (TBM) to be deployed by May. The first two of the project's 25 TBMs arrived in the Philippines in February 2021. The contract is ColasRail's first in the Philippines and is worth 760 million euros. Colas Rail will be responsible for engineering and system integration, including track, CBTC, power distribution, overhead lines and depot equipment.

Egis' participation in the project is divided into two main parts. Together with Colas Rail, Egis will be responsible for the preliminary design of the electrical and mechanical systems. Egis will also manage and lead the delivery phase of system integration and interface activities, system assurance, and testing and commissioning of all metro systems, including track, signaling, telecommunications, power and distribution, automatic toll collection, platform screen doors, maintenance vehicles and warehouse equipment . Egis said the work will be done by its local team in the Philippines, supported by experts and engineers at the regional technical center in Thailand. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

Egis will also be responsible for the procurement, supply and installation of more than 1,300 full-height platform screen doors, from design to testing and commissioning, including procurement and installation management. Thales will design and develop integrated and secure communications networks, including radios, multi-service networks, roadside telephony and Wi-Fi, as well as roadside equipment for safety systems such as CCTV and video analytics capabilities. It will also provide passenger information and public address, digital surveillance solutions, and a centralized power monitoring and data acquisition system. Thales will also provide automatic tolling services as part of the project, which is worth 156 million euros.Editor/XingWentao