Manila, April 24 (Engineering Daily) -- The Metro Manila Subway is to be developed by the Philippines Department of Transportation and will feature 13 underground stations measuring approximately 25km long. It represents the first subway in the Philippines to connect Quezon City with Parañaque.
The entire subway project, estimated to cost P356.96 billion (USD7.055 billion), is among the big-ticket infrastructure projects in the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program. It is expected be the most expensive transport project to be undertaken by the Duterte administration. Of this total project cost, 73 percent (573.73 billion yen) will be funded by JICA through a time-sliced loan arrangement comprising three to four tranches, while the remaining 27 percent, which is about 215.16 billion yen or around P97.35 billion, will be shouldered by the Philippine government.
According to DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Cesar Chavez, the DOTr, through the leadership of Secretary Tugade, together with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), scheduled the groundbreaking for MMSP in the fourth quarter of 2018, and is pushing for partial operations in 2022, and full operations by 2025.
"Secretary Tugade has been working closely with JICA in order to expedite the completion of the project and allow the public to enjoy the benefits of a subway system earlier," Usec. Chavez said.
Apart from a world-class design, the subway system will have water-stop panels, doors, and high-level entrance for flood prevention, earthquake detection, and a train stop system, just like the subways in Tokyo.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has extended a 104.53-billion-yen loan (about P51.34 billion) to the Philippine government for the construction of the Metro Manila Subway Project (Phase 1).
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, representing the Philippine government, and newly appointed JICA chief representative Yoshio Wada signed the loan agreement in March 16, 2018.
The Metro Manila Subway Project ( Phase 1), which covers the Central Zone, involves the construction of about 30 kilometers of underground railway from Mindanao Avenue to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It will have 14 stations and possibly one or two more extension stations.
It also includes a depot in Valenzuela, electro-mechanical systems and rolling stock and the establishment of a Philippine Railway Institute.
“We are targeting May 2022 to begin operation of the first three of the subway stations – Mindanao Avenue-Quirino Highway, Tandang Sora and North Avenue. The entire Central Zone will be operational by 2025, including the commercial space for the subway stations that will help defray the cost of operating this facility,” according to Finance Secretary Dominguez.
Phase 1 is expected to serve around 370,000 passengers per day in its opening year and expected to lessen travel time from Quezon City to Taguig in 31 minutes.
In its entirety, the subway project envisioned by the government will also include a North Zone, which will be extended to Bulacan, and a South Zone that will extend to Cavite.
Upon completion, the project is expected to accommodate growing transportation needs and ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila, one of the three metropolitan areas in the Philippines. The population of the area has rapidly increased from 7.92 million people in 1990 to 12.87 million in 2015, yet is currently only served by three rail lines covering 50km.
Completion of the project is expected in September 2025, once all the facilities are put into service.
