PH first Underground Railway System Breaks Ground

Manila--The country's first ever underground railway system known as the Metro Manila Subway, a Filipino-Japan Php8 trillion consortium project has finally inaugurated during its groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday.

The ceremony led by Department of Transportation(DOTr) Sec. Arthur Tugade and Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, presented by other government officials set the ground of the multi-billion project and made an awarding of entitlements to affected families in Ugong, Valenzuela City.

The project will be an expansive 36-km railway system from Valenzuela on the capital's northern end and Quirino Highway in Quezon City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), wherein will have a speed of up to 80km per hour, with a travel time as short as 30 minutes, the DOTr said.

Tugade further said the government hoped to reach the portion of the subway wherein the first 3 stations in Valenzuela, Tandang Sora and North Avenue will open before Duterte's term ends in 2022.

"Inaugurating and groundbreaking is one thing, finishing it is another. We will finish this in 2022. Sabi nga sa Ingles, I will be watching you... This is what we want to achieve. Sa mga nagdududa, maniwala kayo," he said.

Likewise, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea also said the Duterte government would finish the subway project "as fast as we can, as well as we can and without any whiff of corruption."

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that with the targeting partial operability by 2022, where President Duterte's term will end, the palace hoped that the next administration will continue the 'project of the century'.

Credit Image: https://www.manilalivewire.com/2016/07/duterte-administration-eyeing-to-build-subway-train-system-as-one-solution-to-metro-traffic/

“With this foundation, we request succeeding administrations to exert the same effort until the railway system is fully completed,” Panelo said in a statement.

“The Metro Manila Subway has been dubbed as the project of the century as it is considered a major transformational project in mass transport in the country,” he added.

The railway system will have 15 stations from Quirino Highway in Quezon City to NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay and FTI in Taguig.

The phase 1 of the Metro Manila Subway Project features the Depot and the Philippine Railway Institute which will be built in Ugong, Valenzuela City and the first three stations consist of the Quirino Highway - Mindanao Ave. Station, Tandang Sora Station and North Ave. Station.

The government promises that all the 15 stations will be fully operational in 2025.

Tugade cited that the subway spans 7 cities and municipalities and 3 business districts. A joint venture including Shimizu Corp, Fujita Corp and Takenaka Civil Engineering Co of Japan and EEI Corp from the Philippines was tapped to design and build the first 3 stations.

"The Metro Manila Subway will leverage on Japanese technology to make the structure flood and earthquake-proof," he said.

In line with this, Transportation Undersecretary for railways Timothy Batan said the subway will connect to the MRT-3, the LRT-2 and the Philippine National Railway lines.

The bigtime project was amongst President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” Program, which will be built with the support of the Government of Japan through an Official Development Assistance Loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The event was also graced by Exec. Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Sec. Benjamin Diokno of the Dept. of Budget and Management, NEDA Sec. Ernesto Pernia, DPWH Sec. Mark Villar, Senator JV Ejercito, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda, MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim, QC Mayor Herbert Bautista, Cong. Cesar Sarmiento.