The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Thursday signed an agreement ensuring uninterrupted power and reliable service for the country’s first underground railway, the Metro Manila Subway.
The partnership, according to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, will guarantee commuters uninterrupted power and reliable service from the railway system.
“I would like to thank Meralco for your support as this agreement will help the Metro Manila Subway a step closer to reality,” Bautista said at the signing of the switching station agreement with deeds of usufruct between the DOTr and Meralco.
Under the switching station agreement with deeds of usufruct, the transport agency will provide Meralco with a switching station area of 1,743 square meters for the interconnection of the Metro Manila Subway to the energy provider’s distribution network.
Once granted by the DOTr lot allocation, Meralco will finance, install, construct, control, operate and maintain the required facilities within the switching station for the Metro Manila Subway interconnection.
The DOTr targets to complete the first segment of the subway by 2027 and full operations by 2029.
Civil works are ongoing at the 36-km Metro Manila Subway Project. With 17 stations, the project is set to reduce travel time between Valenzuela City and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 from 1 hour and 30 minutes to only 35 minutes.
The P488.5 billion subway project is expected to reduce travel time between Quezon City and NAIA from one hour and 30 minutes down to just 35 minutes.
It is expected to serve around 370,000 passengers a day on its first year of full operations, with capacity to serve up to 1 million passengers a day in later years.
The MMSP is physically interconnected and interoperable with the North-South Commuter Railway System’s south segment, enabling a passenger to board a subway train, for example, in North Ave. Station of MMSP and get off at the Calamba Station of the NSCR.
