Common rail station to break ground on Sept. 29

The Department of Transportation has scheduled on Sept. 29 this year the groundbreaking for the construction of a common train station that would link as many as three elevated railway systems in Metro Manila, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said Friday.

Groundbreaking events, usually ceremonial in nature, nevertheless signals the start of a process, which in this case had stalled during the Aquino administration.

The common station project, which would rise in a parcel of land between the SM City North Edsa shopping mall and the Ayala’s Trinoma shopping complex in Quezon City, aims to link the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, Light Rail Transit Line 1, and the MRT-7, which will run to Bulacan and will open by 2020.

The DOTr earlier said it was targeting to finish the common station project by April 2019.

The current location was agreed upon after months of compromise talks between the DOTr, led by Tugade, and private sector stakeholders led by the SM group, Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., and San Miguel Corp.

The end result was the signing last Jan. 18 of a memorandum of understanding on the station’s new location. This resolved delays that ran for about eight years.

Tugade said the current design would cost the government P2.8 billion. This increased from previous estimates since the station’s size, at 13,700 square meters, was double the original design in 2009. This was to accommodate passenger flow and convenience and overall larger volume.

The common station issue traces its roots to 2009 and revolved around its location—coveted since it would serve as the transfer point for train systems that catered to more than a million passengers daily.

In 2009, SM Prime Holdings Inc. signed an agreement with the then Macapagal-Arroyo administration for the station to be built near the annex mall of SM City North Edsa.

But the implementation of the common station suffered delays as the Aquino III administration, which reviewed the project, assumed power on June 30, 2010.

When then Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Abaya decided to move the location to an area near Trinoma in May 2013, the SM group cited breach of contract and sued the government in June 2014.

Abaya, at the time, noted the advantages of the Trinoma location, which was smaller, since it would cost about P1 billion less than the location near the SM North Edsa Annex.

Under the agreement all stakeholders signed last January, SM would agree to drop its lawsuit once an approved detailed design was completed at the end of this year.

Ayala and Metro Pacific currently operate the LRT-1 while SMC is building the MRT-7.

http://business.inquirer.net/237029/common-rail-station-break-ground-sept-29

Common station to break ground Sept. 29

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to formally start construction of  the P2.8-billion Grand Central station or the common station for the three rail systems  Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3), MRT-7 and Light Rain Transit (LRT) 1 in Quezon City by next week.

With the support from House of Representatives, Senate, MRT management and private sector, the ground breaking for the common station will push through as scheduled on September 29, according to Arthur Tugade DOTr secretary.

The project is targeted to be completed in two years or by second quarter of 2019.

The  common station measures 13,700 square meters (sq.m.)  double the capacity of the original proposal in 2009  at 7,000 sq.m but at almost at the same cost.

The construction of the grand station will be financed by government through DOTr  while the concourse connecting the Trinoma mall  to the rail system will be financed and build by Ayala for P150 million. The  concourse for MRT 7 will developed and financed by San Miguel Corp. (SMC)

The operation, maintenance, and development will be split between LRMC the operator of LRT-1 and DOTr for MRT-3.

The design goal is to connect three main lines LRT-1, MRT-3, and the MRT-7 (EDSA corner North Avenue, Quezon City to Araneta-Colinas Verdes Subdivision, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan)

The common station project was started in 2009 under the Arroyo administration with original location near SM North Edsa after the SM Group  paid P200 million for the naming rights for the location.  But it went through legal entanglements under the previous administration when then Department of Transportation and Communication decided to build the station near Ayala’s Trinoma mall to save around P 1.2  billion for construction cost.

SMPHI filed a temporary restraining order (TRO) which was granted by the Supreme Court on July 31, 2014.

In January, stakeholders of the common station  signed a memorandum of understanding on the choice of site of the common station.

The government represented by DOTr, JICA, and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) and SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI)  have filed a joint manifestation before the Supreme Court to lift the temporary restraining order (TRO) to allow the parties to proceed with the construction of the project.

The parties involved the DOTr, JICA, SMPHI , SMC unit Universal LRT Corp. (BVI), Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) operator of LRT 1 , Ayala Corp’s unit North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp. (NTDCC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA).