JICA starts moving on PH’s first subway system

Plans for the Metro Manila Subway Project, for which a loan agreement is expected to be signed in November at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to the country, are moving forward, with Japanese officials presenting updates on the feasibility study.

The updates on the Metro Manila Subway Project were presented by partners from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at the recent seventh Steering Committee Meeting presided by Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade.

The two sides discussed, among others, timelines, alignment, and organizational arrangements. Tugade reiterated his directive that he wants the project to be operational before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022.

“I don’t want bola-bola [fooling around]. I want this project finished,” Tugade said.

Apart from fast-tracking the project, Tugade also proposed for the subway to extend all the way to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. “I need to have that connectivity. I have a big problem with NAIA because of the projected increase in volume of passengers,” he explained.

The subway alignment originally has 13 stations, starting from Mindanao Avenue and ending at FTI Taguig. This is seen to cut travel time from Quezon City to Taguig to just 31 minutes.

Tugade also proposed a training facility for railway operators, to which JICA responded positively. JICA also presented possible organizational arrangements to ensure that the subway will be constructed, operated, and maintained by a competent and dedicated team of certified operators and experts.

Apart from a world-class design, the proposed subway system will have water-stop panels, doors, and high-level entrance for flood prevention, earthquake detection, and a train stop system just like the subways in Tokyo.

At the end of the meeting, Tugade and JICA signed a minutes of discussion.

Present at the signing were Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, Bases Conversion and Development Authority President Vince Dizon, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Danny Lim, representatives from the National Economic Development Authority, and officials of the Embassy of Japan.

President Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to sign a loan agreement for the Mega Manila Subway Project during the latter’s visit to the Philippines in November.

Govt studying NAIA Expressway extension

The government is studying extending a toll road that leads to the capital’s airports to further ease chronic traffic jams, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said Thursday.
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway could be extended to the Bonifacio Global City, Paranaque and Las Pinas, Villar told reporters.
“We’re currently studying various extensions for the NAIA expressway,” he said.
The 7.7-kilometer second phase of the NAIA expressway was opened earlier this month. The toll road connects terminals 1, 2 and 3 of NAIA to the Skyway and the Manila Cavite Expressway.

Government resurrects mothballed rail project

The plan calls for a high-speed rail connection linking Manila with the Central Luzon provinces of Bulacan with Pampanga
The government of President Rodrigo Duterte is reviving a rail project to connect Metro Manila to Central Luzon — an endeavour that had been shelved in the past due to cost overruns and alleged corruption.
According to Secretary Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the 106-kilometre Manila to Clark Railway Project will finally be completed under the current administration.
“For the first time, a rail project will connect Manila to Central Luzon and it will be completed under the Duterte administration,” he said.
The plan calls for a high-speed rail connection linking Metro Manila with the Central Luzon provinces of Bulacan with Pampanga.
The rail project envisions cutting by more than half the two-hour travel time from Manila to Clark to just 55 minutes.
Tugade said the rail system stands to benefit 350,000 passengers daily on its first year of operations and will ease population congestion in Metro Manila as those who live and stay in the metropolis have the option of living in other areas in Central Luzon where there are fewer people.
The transport official said the DOTr will mark on Monday the five stations of the Manila-Clark Railway Project which are in Marilao and Meycauayan in Bulacan, Valenzuela, Caloocan, and Tutuban in Metro Manila.
The 106-km railway project that will run from Tutuban, Manila to Clark, Pampanga is among the high-impact projects of President Rodrigo Duterte under the government’s ‘Build Build Build’ infrastructure programme.
“Before the plans for this project are mere talk, now, the Duterte administration will make this a reality,” Tugade said.
Apart from the marked stations, the 12 other stations are: Solis, Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Malolos, Calumpit, Apalit, San Fernando, Angeles, Clark, Clark International Airport, and the proposed New Clark City in Pampanga.
According to Philippine National Railways (PNR) General Manager Junn Magno, the project is seen to decongest Metro Manila and spread economic gains throughout the country.
“This project will ease traffic congestion and help thousands of commuters coming from Bulacan and Pampanga who travel daily to their workplaces or schools in Metro Manila,” Magno said.
According to the DOTr, the project will start construction in the last quarter of 2017 and will be completed by the last quarter of 2021.
The project costs P255 billion (Dh3 billion) and will be funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA) from Japan.
The whole line will have 13 train sets with eight cars or coaches per train set. Each train can reach a maximum speed of 120km per hour.
Earlier, the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had planned and started construction on a similar project covering the same area, the NorthRail Project in 2007.
The project was undertaken by Chinese rail contractor Sinomach, however, due to cost overruns the project was eventually shelved and the rails and infrastructures were unused.
The current project being undertaken this time is with a Japanese contractor.