By Chino S. Leyco
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that residents from northern Luzon can expect the “much-delayed” railway system connecting Malolos, Bulacan and Clark International Airport in Pampanga will now push through.
Following the signing of a $1.3 billion from the Asian development Bank (ABD), Dominguez said that 54 kilometer passenger railway, the single largest infrastructure investment in history, is expected to be completed by 2025.
Once finished, the Malolos-Clark railway project (MCRP) will benefit around 342,000 passengers per day and is expected to be completed after six years.
Last week, ADB and the Philippine government sealed a loan agreement representing the first tranche of the bank’s $2.75 billion financing contribution for the MCRP.
“This project will more than pay for itself and bring convenience to hundreds of thousands of commuters a day in what will be an extremely busy Manila-Clark corridor in the coming years,” Dominguez said.
The estimated total project cost for the entire MCRP is $6.139 billion, which will be co-financed by the ADB and the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The ADB will fund $2.75 billion or 44.8 percent of the total project cost, while JICA will finance $2.011 billion or 32.75 percent. The Philippine government’s counterpart funding of 22.45 percent amounts to $1.378 billion.
“This loan demonstrates the close coordination between multilateral agencies and our bilateral development partners,” said Dominguez.
“I am happy our development partners have adapted quite well to the ‘Fast and Sure’ approach in getting the major infrastructure projects going,” Dominguez added. “The ADB and the Japanese Government are indeed our friends and partners in their untiring support for the country’s growth and development.”
Dominguez noted that “this much-delayed project is finally pushing through” as part of the Duterte administration’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure modernization program.
The project was first conceptualized in the late 1990s, with preparatory construction starting in 2006 but scrapped in 2011.
ADB’s $2.75 billion loan is the largest sum extended by the Bank to the Philippines, which hosts its headquarters, or to any other country, since its establishment in 1966.
On the part of the ADB, the financing for the MCRP will be in three tranches, with each considered as stand-alone loans. The second tranche is a $1.0 billion loan, while the final one is for $450 million.
https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/07/14/much-delayed-mcrp-to-push-through-dominguez/
Monday, July 15, 2019
MPTC to start construction of NLEx-SLEx link in third quarter
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. said it expects to start by the third quarter the construction of an expressway that will link North Luzon Expressway and South Luzon Expressway.
“We are hoping by third quarter we will start construction,” MPTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said.
The P23.3-billion NLEx-SLEx Connector Road is an eight-kilometer elevated four-lane expressway extending NLEx southward from the end of Segment 10 on C3 Road Caloocan City to PUP Sta. Mesa, Manila and connecting to Skyway Stage 3 by mostly traversing the PNR rail track.
The project includes two interchanges at C3 Road/5th Avenue in Caloocan and España in Manila.
Once completed by 2021, the project will reduce travel time from SLEx to NLEx from two hours to just 20 minutes. Some 35,000 motorists are expected to use the project.
It will also reduce the travel time from Clark in Pampaga to Calamba, Laguna from about three hours to one hour and 40 minutes.
NLEx Corp., a unit of MPTC, opened the NLEx Harbor Link Segment 10 in February this year, improving the accessibility and connectivity between the key areas of Metro Manila and the northern provinces of Luzon via NLEx.
Traversing the cities of Valenzuela, Malabon and Caloocan, the 5.65-km, six-lane NLEx Harbor Link Segment 10 is seen to divert 30,000 vehicles daily away from the busy streets of Metro Manila. With the new road, travel time between C3 and NLEx will only take 5 minutes.
It will also facilitate the efficient delivery of goods as cargo trucks will have alternative access from Port Area in Manila to the provinces in Central and Northern Luzon.
The elevated expressway will enable travelers from Manila to Central and North Luzon to head straight to NLEx, bypassing Edsa and the Balintawak Toll Plaza.
The next phase of the project is the 2.6-km section from C3 Road to R10 in Navotas City.
http://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/299787
“We are hoping by third quarter we will start construction,” MPTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said.
The P23.3-billion NLEx-SLEx Connector Road is an eight-kilometer elevated four-lane expressway extending NLEx southward from the end of Segment 10 on C3 Road Caloocan City to PUP Sta. Mesa, Manila and connecting to Skyway Stage 3 by mostly traversing the PNR rail track.
The project includes two interchanges at C3 Road/5th Avenue in Caloocan and España in Manila.
Once completed by 2021, the project will reduce travel time from SLEx to NLEx from two hours to just 20 minutes. Some 35,000 motorists are expected to use the project.
It will also reduce the travel time from Clark in Pampaga to Calamba, Laguna from about three hours to one hour and 40 minutes.
NLEx Corp., a unit of MPTC, opened the NLEx Harbor Link Segment 10 in February this year, improving the accessibility and connectivity between the key areas of Metro Manila and the northern provinces of Luzon via NLEx.
Traversing the cities of Valenzuela, Malabon and Caloocan, the 5.65-km, six-lane NLEx Harbor Link Segment 10 is seen to divert 30,000 vehicles daily away from the busy streets of Metro Manila. With the new road, travel time between C3 and NLEx will only take 5 minutes.
It will also facilitate the efficient delivery of goods as cargo trucks will have alternative access from Port Area in Manila to the provinces in Central and Northern Luzon.
The elevated expressway will enable travelers from Manila to Central and North Luzon to head straight to NLEx, bypassing Edsa and the Balintawak Toll Plaza.
The next phase of the project is the 2.6-km section from C3 Road to R10 in Navotas City.
http://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/299787
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