The Department of Transportation said it expects to start the construction of the P59.3-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 4 by 2021 after it was approved by a Cabinet committee.
MRT 4, a 15.56-kilometer rail-based transit system that will connect LRT Line 2 in Sta. Mesa, Manila to Taytay, Rizal, was approved by the Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee on Dec. 20.
The rail-based transit system, which is scheduled for operation in 2025, aims to address the worsening traffic and inadequate road capacity in the densely-populated areas of eastern Metro Manila including parts of Quezon City, San Juan City, Mandaluyong City, Pasig City and the Ortigas Center.
It will also link eastern Metro Manila to the neighboring municipalities of Cainta and Taytay in Rizal.
With an initial daily ridership projected at 234,433 passengers, the line system will serve 11 stations.
It is calendared for construction from 2021 to 2025 with official development assistance from the Asian Development Bank. The Department of Transportation is the proponent of the project.
DOTR Secretary Arthur Tugade said that once operational, the project would greatly help connect eastern Metro Manila to the province of Rizal.
“Considering how densely-populated these areas are, which is made more difficult with the lack of road capacities and ever worsening traffic conditions, MRT-4 will be of great help in moving commuters between eastern Metro Manila and Rizal,” Tugade said.
Infrastructure cluster chairman and Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said the approval by the ICC-CabCom of the MRT-4 project and other key transport and infrastructure projects would ensure their completion within the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“After passing the ICC-CabCom, we’ll be able to release the projects by early next year, allowing us time within the Duterte administration to significantly complete these game-changing projects. It’s crucial that we start these projects”•we’ll be working on the procurement, that’s why we fast-tracked all these projects before the end of the year so that next year, we can focus purely on the detailed engineering and procurement of these big-ticket projects,” Villar said.
Also approved by the ICC-CabCom in its Dec. 20, 2019 meeting were the unsolicited operate-add-transfer proposal for the Davao International Airport and the Laguindingan Airport and the EDSA Greenways Projects and the Maritime Safety Enhancement Program.