The Department of Transportation expects to launch the auction for the operations and maintenance contract of Light Rail Transit Line 2 by next year.
Officials said the priority is the North-South Commuter Railway, followed by the Philippine Automated Fare Collection System, before proceeding with the LRT-2 public-private partnership.
The agency is currently conducting market sounding activities to gauge private-sector interest in the LRT-2 operations and maintenance contract.
Several foreign firms have expressed interest in investing in Philippine rail projects as long-delayed infrastructure plans advance.
The department is working with the International Finance Corp. on the planned privatization of LRT-2, which is operated and managed by the Light Rail Transit Authority.
The privatization aims to increase ridership and extend the rail line through a public-private partnership structure.
In the first half of the year, the authority reported revenue of P481.90 million, down 24.84% due to government-mandated fare discounts during the energy emergency.
Ridership rose 15.29% to 31.75 million passengers in the six months to June compared with a year earlier.
The transportation department ordered a 50% fare discount on LRT-2 and Metro Rail Transit lines after the emergency declaration linked to conflict in the Persian Gulf.
For 2026, the authority projects fare collections of P1.1 billion on ridership of 60.62 million.
Daily passengers are expected to average 165,624, a total that would exceed the 56.98 million recorded in the last full pre-pandemic year of 2019.
