The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Friday the construction of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) reached nearly 70-percent completion as of April 2024.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the overall progress of MRT-7 was at 69.86 percent as of April 2024.
“I saw the full speed construction, and I’m very happy that they are completing the Quezon City leg of MRT-7 which will be operational at the end of 2025,” Bautista said.
“I am very much impressed with how San Miguel Infrastructure has constructed all the facilities, and I’m sure with all your help and hard work we should be able to open this Quezon City leg of MRT-7,” he said.
Bautista said the MRT-7 project could serve 300,000 passengers in its first year of operation.
The trip from Quezon City to San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan will only take 35 minutes, a dramatic reduction from two to three hours of travel time at present.
San Miguel Corp., the proponent of the MRT-7 project, secured a P100-billion syndicated loan agreement with a consortium of major Philippine banks to fund the project.
Members of the consortium are BDO Unibank Inc., Philippine National Bank (PNB), Bank of Commerce (BankCom), Security Bank and the Government Service Insurance System. Lead arrangers and bookrunners for the transaction are BDO Capital & Investment Corp., PNB Capital and Investment Corp., SB Capital Investment Corp. and BankCom-Investment Banking Group.
The Marcos administration identified MRT-7, which runs from Quezon City to San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan, as one of 194 high-impact infrastructure flagship projects under the “Build Better, More” program.
MRT-7 will have 14 stations at Quezon North Ave. Joint Station; Quezon Memorial Circle; University Ave.; Tandang Sora; Don Antonio; Batasan; Manggahan; Dona Carmen; Regalado; Mindanao Ave.; Quirino; Sacred Heart; Tala; and San Jose del Monte.
It can accommodate 300,000 passengers in its first year of operations, and up to 850,000 passengers daily in its 12th year.
The project will also feature an intermodal transportation hub catering to other types of public transportation and a 19-kilometer highway from San Jose del Monte to Bocaue, Bulacan.