The Department of Transportation on Wednesday signed a contract with the consortium of BF Corp. and Foresight Development and Surveying Company for the construction of a common station linking Light Rail Transit Line 1, Metro Rail Transit Line 3, the planned MRT 7 and the Metro Manila Subway.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade told reporters the Unified Grand Central Station Area A would cost about P2.8 billion and was expected to be completed in 20 months.
“It would be operational by fourth quarter of 2020,” Tugade said.
The UGCS, also known as the common station, is designed to inter-link the four-railway lines.
The Area B of the common station, an area connecting Areas A and C would be financed, built and operated by North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp., an affiliate of Ayala Land, Inc.
The Area C for MRT-7 platform will be financed, built and operated by San Miguel Corp.
The common station project has been stalled since 2009, but Tugade settled the dispute on the location leading to its groundbreaking in September 2017.
It will cover an area of 13,700 square meters and provide commuters a seamless transfer from one line to another. It is expected to serve around 500,000 passengers daily once it is completed by 2022.
The project would have a roofed transit for the passengers operated by an automated fare collection system, allowing the users of better point-to-point comfort and mobility.
Tugade said that the agency would also inaugurate the construction of North-South Commuter Railway Project (Malolos to Tutuban) by Friday.
The project is a 37.9-kilometer railway connecting Malolos, Bulacan and Tutuban, Manila with 10 elevated stations.
The agency tapped Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. for the construction of the project. It is funded by a loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The NSCR is expected to be completed by December 2021 and aims to serve more than 300,000 passengers a day.