MHIENG Completes Rehabilitation of Manila’s MRT-3 Rail Line
-- Improved Railway Operating Condition to Ease Traffic Congestion in the Philippines Capital --

Tokyo, March 24, 2022 - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, Ltd. (MHIENG), a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, has completed a rehabilitation (renovation) project for the Manila Metro Rail Transit System Line 3 (MRT-3), a metropolitan railway serving the Manila metropolitan area in the Republic of the Philippines. This project, conducted in partnership with Sumitomo Corporation, was ordered by the Philippines Department of Transportation (DOTr) in December 2018.

MRT-3, utilized as a transportation service for Manila residents, was built by MHIENG (at the time MHI) in partnership with Sumitomo Corporation as a complete urban transportation system, including elevated structures, stations, rails, signals, communications, transformer facilities, wiring, railway depots, and vehicles, with a total length of 17 kilometers and comprising a total of 13 stations. From the start of full operations in 2000 through 2012, MHI and TES Philippines Inc. (TESP, an MHI Group company providing transportation system maintenance), in partnership with Sumitomo Corporation, provided maintenance for the system. From 2012, a decline in the operating rate of the railway due to the aging of the system and delays in procuring replacement parts became a social issue in the region.

In response to DOTr’s demand to solve the issue, MHI Group, utilizing the extensive experience it has acquired through engineering and project management, conducted a large-scale rehabilitation project of the entire system, including vehicles and equipment, without disruption of regular operation, restoring the safe and highly reliable railway system. Following the rehabilitation, MHI Group will steadily implement an ongoing maintenance contract through May 2023, establish a safe maintenance structure through TESP, and by maintaining a high operating rate for MRT-3, contribute to the easing of traffic congestion in Manila.

A completion ceremony was held at MRT-3’s Shaw Boulevard MRT Station on March 22, attended by Philippines government officials including President Rodrigo Duterte and Secretary of Transportation Arthur Tugade, as well as representatives from the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, Sumitomo Corporation of the Philippines President Seiji Takano, and TESP President Gaku Kondo. President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his appreciation, saying: “With joint efforts of MHI Group and Sumitomo Corporation, train speed, time interval and operating unit of MRT-3 is now improved to service the people.”

MHIENG President and CEO Kenji Terasawa, attending via video, said: “After commencement of the rehabilitation project in 2019, we have faced many difficulties and challenges, including Covid-19 pandemic. However, thanks to the outstanding cooperation of all the parties involved, we have managed to overcome all the obstacles and reached this memorable ceremony. Following the completion of the rehabilitation project, we are now providing maintenance services and will continue to make our best efforts to maintain safe and reliable operations of MRT3 line.”

MHI will continue supplying safe and low-carbon transport solutions that will help support economic development and provide better convenience to people in the Republic of the Philippines and countries around the world. In addition, MHIENG will strengthen after-sales services and localization through TESP, and provide high value-added services that meet customer needs, as well as coordinate with existing service centers around the world for facility renovation projects, and provide new types of leading-edge, high-quality services incorporating digital and AI technologies.