DOTr: Metro Manila Subway now 26% complete
MANILA, Philippines — The massive Metro Manila Subway project will be fully operational by the third quarter of 2027, while a target for partial operability next year remains unchanged, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Wednesday.
According to Assistant Transportation Secretary Goddes Hope Libiran, the 2027 target includes a two-year project liability period, or when the contractor is allowed to remedy defects after the completion of the subway.
The DOTr previously set the target for the country’s first underground train system to be fully functioning by 2025.
36 km long
Funded by loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), the P357-billion Metro Manila Subway is among the Duterte administration’s largest projects under its “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program. The railway line will span a total of 36 kilometers and link key areas within the capital district starting from Valenzuela up to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3.
In its presentation during the budget deliberations at the House of Representatives, the DOTr said the Metro Manila Subway reached an overall completion rate of 26.32 percent as of Aug. 31, including acquisition of right-of-way, procurement and construction activities.
Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said the first 7 km connecting the Philippine Railways Institute, East Valenzuela station and the train depot in Valenzuela would be operational by next year, adding that the procurement of 240 train cars had also been concluded.
QC to Naia in 35 minutes
The Metro Manila Subway, which was designed to carry an initial 370,000 passengers per day, will have a total of 17 stations connecting Pasig, Makati, Taguig, Parañaque, Pasay and Quezon cities.
Once finished, it will cut travel time from Quezon City to Naia from over an hour to 35 minutes.
The DOTr previously said the Metro Manila Subway would be physically connected to its North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project, a 148-km line from Clark, Pampanga, to Calamba, Laguna.
The NSCR is also funded by the Jica and the Asian Development Bank. It is comprised of three major railway projects in Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila and Calamba.
