The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it expects the construction of the long-delayed Unified Grand Central Station (Common Station) to be completed by the first quarter of 2027.
“By the first quarter of 2027, the common station will be completed. It has been delayed for a long time. Finally, it will be completed in 2027,” acting DOTr Secretary Giovanni Lopez said during the DOTr’s radio program Sakay Na! on Radio Pilipinas.
The agency was planning to bid out through solicited mode the construction of the common station.
The agency earlier canceled the contract of BF Corp. and Foresight Development and Surveying Co. (BFC-FDSC), a company founded by late Marikina Mayor Bayani Fernando, for the common station project due to excessive construction delays of the project.
The issuance of notice of termination against BFC-FDSC Consortium follows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directives to speed up and finally complete the construction of the common station which has been ongoing since 2009 to ease and reduce travel time for commuters.
The P2.8-billion station features a 13,700-square meter concourse area which will seamlessly interconnect the rail lines of LRT-1, MRT-3, MRT-7 and the much-awaited Metro Manila Subway.
The project has been stalled since 2009, but Former DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade settled the dispute on the location leading to its groundbreaking in September 2017.
Once operational, the station is expected to serve about 500,000 passengers daily.
Meanwhile, Lopez said the proposed MRT4 Project is currently in its consultancy phase.
The Philippine government is seeking a $1-billion loan from the ADB to finance the planned mass transport system that will run from San Juan City to Taytay in Rizal province.
The Metro Rail Transit Line 4 project would be a fully-elevated railway mass-transit system serving the eastern side of Metro Manila and the highly-populated areas of Rizal.
The 15.56-kilometer MRT4, with 11 stations, two other provisional stations in the future and a barrier-free design to allow inclusive access, is expected to address the transport bottleneck along Ortigas Avenue.
The ADB said the MRT4 project would provide a reliable, rapid, affordable and safe public transport and would reduce traffic congestions and commute/travel times from Taytay to the Ortigas CBD from one to three hours by road to less than half an hour by rail.
It will also maintain the high-economic growth and inclusive urban development of eastern Manila, the Ortigas CDB, Pasig City and the neighboring Rizal province, the ADB said.
Once fully operational, the P59.3-billion MRT-4 trains could run 80 kilometers per hour at maximum speed and a commercial speed of 25 kilometers to 40 kilometers an hour.
The railway will cut across the cities of Mandaluyong, San Juan, Quezon, Pasig and the municipalities of Cainta and Taytay in Rizal, addressing the massive traffic problem and limited road capacities in the densely populated areas of eastern Metro Manila.
It is expected to serve 4,464 passengers an at peak and 2,678 passengers an hour off-peak with an estimated travel time of 27 minutes from N. Domingo in San Juan City to Taytay, Rizal. The daily ridership is expected to reach 328,804 by 2030.
