The Department of Transportation on Friday signaled the start of the construction of the Metro Manila Subway project by breaking ground in two underground stations along Quezon Avenue and East Avenue .
“The subway will not only provide comfort and convenience but also generate jobs. (The ride) will definitely be affordable, safe, sustainable and accessible,” Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said.
According to Bautista, the subway will connect with different railway networks as LRT 1, MRT 3, MRT 7 and the Grand Common station now also under construction. The subway will also connect with LRT 2 at the Anonas Station.
He expects the project to be operational by 2028.
The 33-kilometer subway stretches from Valenzuela in the north to NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay City and the FTI further south and reduce travel time between Quezon City and NAIA from one hour and 30 minutes down to 35 minutes more or less.
The line is designed to serve around 370,000 passengers each day in its first year of full operations but eventually serve up to 1 million passengers daily in later years.
The subway is physically interconnected and interoperable with the North-South Commuter Railway System’s south segment, enabling a passenger to board a subway train in North Avenue Station, for example, and get off at the Calamba Station of the NSCR.
The DOTr previously signed two contract packages worth P52.2 billion for the NSCR system.
The contract packages were awarded to winning bidders, the Acciona-DMCI joint venture and Leighton-First Balfour JV, which are both part of the South Commuter Railway Project (SCRP).
“Once completed, the NSCR will offer safe, affordable, convenient and accessible transport to Filipinos while accelerating our country’s economic rebound,” Bautista said.
The first package of the SCRP consists of the construction of a 7.9-km elevated railway from Blumentritt to San Andres Bukid in Manila, with three stations in España, Sta. Mesa and Paco that comprise a segment of the project that stretches up to Calamba.
The second package includes the construction of another 6.1-km railway running alongside a portion of the South Luzon Expressway.
Under the second package, a 4.7-km underground railway and 1.4-km ground level railway with a station at the Food Terminal Inc (FTI) will be constructed as part of the segment.
Co-financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the 147-km NSCR is designed to reduce travel time from Clark Airport to Calamba in Laguna to only two hours from 4-4.5 hours at present.
