THE PHILIPPINE capital plans to construct a more efficient public transportation system under a brand new PHP350 billion ($6.6 billion) light rail project that may begin next month.
The project, referred to as the Mega Manila metro, will span a minimum of 25 kilometers and connect Quezon City within the north with Taguig within the south.
According to the Inquirer, the system can even have an extra connection to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said Japan is financing the project through a foreign development assistance loan.
The groundbreaking event is anticipated to happen in mid-January 2019, he added.
While the project is anticipated to be accomplished by 2025, the department hopes to open the primary three stations by 2022, the identical yr that President Rodrigo Duterte is anticipated to step down from office.
The project covers Mindanao Avenue, Tandang Sora, North Avenue, Quezon Avenue, East Avenue, Anonas, Katipunan, Ortigas North, Ortigas South, Freedom Avenue, Bonifacio Globe City, Cayetano Boulevard and Food Terminal Inc. comprehensive for the situation of metro stations.
Aimed to handle growing road congestion in Metro Manila, because the Japan International Cooperation Agency previously noted, town had faced every day economic losses of PHP3.5 billion ($6.6 million) since 2017.
The Mega Manila project was considered the primary and only underground rail system under construction, but a second privately funded subway project in Makati City can also be in development.
In October, the local government of Makati City granted Philippine Infradev Holdings Inc. (IRC) to construct and operate the metro rail system along with the Makati City Private Partner Selection Committee.
The privatized railway will include Chinese partners who will invest roughly PHP 196 billion ($3.7 billion) within the project.
The consortium included Greenland Holdings, Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group, Kwan On Holdings and MingTu Investment Holdings.
Earlier this month, the IRC organized a soil test ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony for the subway that may serve key areas of Makati.
The proposed stations will likely be positioned at Edsa-Ayala Avenue, Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati Central Park, Makati City Hall, Rockwell Center, EDSA-Guadalupe and Makati Hospital.
Source : Asian correspondent
