The LRT-MRT common station in SM City North Edsa, which aims to connect the LRT Line 1, MRT Line 3, and the proposed MRT Line 7, has been in the government’s pipeline for several years now. Unfortunately, there have been delays in the construction due to the technicalities and disagreements among parties involved.
During the Department of Transportation budget hearing last Friday, I had the chance to inquire on the development of this project. According to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, the parties involved have finally agreed to proceed with the construction. My question is, what exactly was their agreement? Where exactly will the common station be?
During the 14th Congress, I took part in crafting a resolution to construct a common railway station at SM City North Edsa.With the convenience of the commuters in mind, we believe that a common station would ease the daily transportation grind of the working class. Our resolution originally proposed to construct the railway interchange in front of SM City North Edsa. The alignment was changed during the previous administration as the North-end station of the MRT Line 3 was relocated beside TriNoMa Mall, an Ayala property. We would like to revisit this new design of the LRT-MRT common station in North Edsa as we hope to avoid the blunder of the Gateway Mall connection, where commuters have to walk approximately 700 meters to transfer from MRT Line 3 to LRT Line 2. This kind of set-up favors only the interests of the mall owners and not of the working class. In other countries such as Hong Kong and New York, interchange stations only require commuters to go up or down a platform or walk a few meters to transfer railway lines. Why can’t we implement the same here?
The government recognizes the big role of the country’s top corporations in making the LRT-MRT common station project possible. SM Prime Holdings Inc. together with the Light Rail Manila Consortium (LRMC) composed of Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), and the Universal LRT Corp. (ULC), a unit of San Miguel Holdings Corp., should collaborate to construct a bona fide LRT-MRT common station in SM City North Edsa. We have to make sure that the deal does not favor anyone but the public.
We in the minority firmly believe that the concept of mass transit is the great equalizer between a rich man and a poor man. To paraphrase, a developed country is not where everybody rides a private vehicle; it is one where the rich and the working class ride the train together. As a prime advocate of long-term traffic solutions and as one of the initiators of the construction of the common station, I commit to be proactive in ensuring that this project gets done the soonest. My only appeal to the public is to remain patient as this construction would affect the current traffic condition. Rest assured, it will all be worth it.