The national government is spending an initial P1.5 billion this year for Phase 1 of the 36-kilometer Metro Manila Subway Project, Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said Sunday.
The amount covers the Philippine government’s “counterpart funding” for the project and is lodged in the budget of the Department of Transportation, according to Campos, a deputy minority leader and ex-officio member of the House appropriations committee.
Phase 1 of the country’s first underground rapid transit system is being bankrolled by a P51.3-billion official development assistance, also known as a discounted loan, from Japan International Cooperation Agency.
“Metro Manila could use two or three more subways over the 10 to 20 years to efficiently convey large numbers of commuters,” Campos said.
Campos pointed out that the National Capital Region’s peak 15-million daytime population could easily surge to 20 million in the years ahead.
“Electric trains below ground offer the fastest way for us to move tens of thousands of people—whether over long or short distances—without adding to road congestion above ground,” Campos said.
“There’s really no other option, except to build our future passenger trains in tunnels, considering that we can no longer widen our roads,” Campos added.
The DOTr recently broke ground for the construction of the Metro Manila Subway’s train depot in Barangay Ugong, Valenzuela City.
Once completed, subway trains are projected to run at 35 to 48 kilometers per hour and traverse 15 underground stations from Mindanao Avenue-Quirino Highway in Quezon City all the way to the Food Terminal Inc. Complex in Taguig City in just 31 to 42 minutes.
The subway would enable passengers from Quezon City to reach the NAIA Terminal 3 in under 30 minutes.
Some 365,000 passengers are expected to take the subway every day on its first year of full operations in 2025. The number is anticipated to surge to 973,000 by 2035.
The subway’s first three stations in Quezon City are due for completion before President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends in 2022.