The Transportation Department said it expects to end by next week the dispute over the location of the common station that will link Metro Manila’s overhead train system in Quezon City .
“Hopefully by September 28, all the four stakeholders will sign the common station [agreement],” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said, referring to SM Prime Holdings Inc., Ayala Land Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp and San Miguel Corp.
“The only thing missing right now are certain technicalities which include the access either overpass or underpass. I think the design issue is about to be addressed with the blessing of the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways]. So, you will have the common station soon,” he added.
Tugade had said the common station would be built between SM North and Trinoma mall.
San Miguel, the proponent of MRT 7, preferred SM North as the location of the common station under a 25-year concession agreement with the government.
SM Prime earlier secured a Supreme Court stay order, barring the department from transferring the location of the common station to Trinoma mall of Ayala Land Inc.
Transportation decided to relocate the common station to Trinoma from SM North, saying the government could save P1 billion from the transfer.
To resolve the conflict with the SM Group, the Transportation Department proposed building two common stations, one near SM North Edsa and the other beside Trinoma Mall.
Under an earlier agreement between SM Prime and state-run Light Rail Transit Authority, the common station would be situated beside SM North Edsa. SM Prime has paid the government P200 million for the naming rights for the proposed station.
MPIC chairman Manuel Pangilinan earlier said the best solution to resolve the issue on common station was to build it somewhere between SM North Edsa and Trinoma.
Pangilinan said the two common stations for MRT Line 3, LRT Line 1 and the proposed MRT Line 7 would be inefficient.
LRMC earlier proposed to Transportation the construction of an interim station between SM City North Edsa and Trinoma to connect the existing LRT1, MRT3 and the planned MRT7.
“The idea is to have just one station that will be ideal for us and for everyone because all the lines will just meet in that station. It has to be within that triangle of Trinoma and SM,” MPIC president and chief executive Jose Ma. Lim said.
Lim said if the proposed interim station concept became acceptable, it could later become a part of the permanent station.
