The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is open to the idea of extending the ongoing construction of the Metro Rail Transit-7 line to reach two more towns in Bulacan for the benefit of local residents frequenting Metro Manila.
During a hearing of the House transportation committee chaired by Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, Undersecretary for Railways Cesar Chavez aid the train system can be accessible in highly-populated towns of Santa Maria and Norzagaray in Bulacan.
Chavez said they were actually looking at three options of extending the MRT 7 Line. “We can ask the MRT-7 developer to extend its project from San Jose del Monte to Norzagaray and Sta. Maria probably,” Chavez told the lawmakers.
Chavez said the second option is to conduct “another study”—that is from the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR). “Maybe from NSCR to Balagtas connecting through your areas, which is also recognized as a very, very heavily dense, densely populated area.”
“Third option, we can ask for PPP (public-private partnership) in the future,” Chavez added.
“We submit to the expertise of the department of which for these options that Undersecretary Chavez is discussing,” said Bulacan Rep. Salvador Pleyto Sr., a neophyte and retired undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways, said.
The SMC is the concession-holder for the MRT-7 project and is fully-funding construction of the 24-kilometer mass transit system that links up with the existing MRT-3 and Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) via a common station in North Avenue.
Once completed, the 22-kilometer railway will link North Ave. in Quezon City and San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan, reducing travel time from three hours to just 35 minutes. The project is also expected to serve 38,000 passengers during peak hours daily.
