The Department of Transportation has partnered with the Office of the Solicitor General to fast-track right-of-way work for major rail projects, including the North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR) and the Metro Manila Subway.
The OSG is helping the agency draft expropriation pleadings through a workshop led by DOTr assistant secretary for Right-of-Way and Site Acquisition IC Calaguas. The activity covers 137 cases involving P1.068 billion worth of land: 40,488 sqm in the NSCR’s north segment, 25,194 sqm in the south, and 3,177 sqm for the Metro Manila Subway.
Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said the partnership will accelerate site acquisition. “The President has ordered the expedited completion of these projects, so the DOTr will do everything to follow our timeline,” he said.
The Metro Manila Subway, dubbed the country’s “crown jewel” of mass transit, will run 33 km across eight cities from Valenzuela to Bicutan, with a spur to NAIA Terminal 3. The 17-station line is expected to cut travel time from Quezon City to NAIA from 1 hour and 10 minutes to 35 minutes and serve up to 370,000 passengers daily.
The NSCR, a 148-km railway with 37 stations from Clark to Calamba, is designed to serve more than 800,000 passengers a day and ease congestion in Metro Manila. Its Clark–Valenzuela segment is targeted to begin operations in 2028.
