ISINAGAWA kahapon ang groundbreaking ceremony para sa pinakaaabangang Metro Manila Subway project, ang kauna-unahang underground railway system sa bansa.
Ang Metro Manila Subway groundbreaking ay ni-reset ng ilang beses. Una itong itinakda noong December 2018 subalit ini-urong sa kalagitnaan ng January 2019.
Ayon kay Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, ang groundbreaking ay naantala dahil sa conflict of schedules sa Japanese officials.
Ang flagship project sa ilalim ng ‘Build, Build, Build’ program ng administrasyong Duterte ay itatayo sa tulong ng gobyerno ng Japan sa pamamagitan ng Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan na nagkakahalaga ng ¥104.530-billion o P51-billion loan mula sa Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Sa seremonya sa Valenzuela City, sinabi ni Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan na ang Department of Trans-portation ay lumagda sa Shimizu Joint Venture, ang main contract para sa disenyo at pagtatayo ng partial operability section ng Metro Manila Subway o ang depot at ang unang tatlong estasyon ng proyekto noong Pebrero 20, 2019.
“Under the design-build contract, the Joint Venture of Shimizu Corporation, Fujita Corporation, Takenaka Civil Engineering Co., Ltd., and EEI Corporation will design and build the first three stations, tunnel structures, the subway’s Valenzuela Depot, and the facilities of the Philippine Railway Institute,” ayon sa DOTr.
Ang unang tatlong estasyon ay ang Quirino Highway-Mindanao Avenue Station, Tandang Sora Station, at North Avenue Sta-tion.
“Partial operability of the Metro Manila Subway with its first three stations is targeted for 2022, while full operations of all 15 stations will be in 2025, “ sabi ni Batan.
Sa unang taon ng full operations nito, ang subway ay inaasahang magseserbisyo sa hanggang 370,000 pasahero araw-araw, subalit may design capacity na makapag-accommodate ng hanggang 1.5 million pasahero kada araw.
“The Metro Manila Subway will span 36 kilometers, comprised of a total of 15 stations from Quirino Highway in Quezon City to NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay and FTI in Taguig,” dagdag pa ng DOTr.
“The subway will cross seven local governments, and passing through three of Metro Manila’s busi-ness districts.”
