Transport deparment pushes Metro subway project

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation wants to pursue the subway that would connect business districts in Metro Manila as well as expand the scope of the public-private partnership  (PPP) project for the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2). 

Noel Kintanar, Transport undersecretary for rail said the government is looking to implement various railway projects. 

Among the rail projects being eyed is Line 5 or the subway that would connect the business districts in Metro Manila to ease congestion on roads.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency has conducted a pre-feasibility study on the P374.5 billion Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit System Loop, which covers an underground railway system as well as elevated rail, to connect as well as address the traffic congestion in the three cities.

Kintanar said the project is being considered “because there’s a demand and there’s a need.” 

Apart from the subway, he said the Department of Transportation is also reviewing other railway projects such as the operation and maintenance of the LRT-2 which was rolled out under the PPP program by the previous administration.

The department is looking to expand the scope of the deal to add the west extension of the railway, rehabilitation of the trains, as well as elevators and escalators. 

About 40 percent of the trains of the LRT-2 from Recto station in Manila to Santolan in Pasig, are not operational. 

“We are bent on upgrading the capacity of the line…We are making sure it gets back to its full fighting form,” Kintanar said. 

Also being looked into are LRT Lines 4 and 6 which the previous administration wanted to implement through PPP.

The LRT 4  involves the construction of a proposed 11-kilometer rail line running west from SM City in Taytay to the intersection of Ortigas Avenue and EDSA in Ortigas.

Meanwhile, LRT 6 covers a proposed 19 km railway from the end of the LRT 1 extension or Niyog in Bacoor, until Dasmariñas City in Cavite.

In the review of the projects, Kintanar said the government would want to make sure such are bankable and financially viable for investors once offered for bidding. 

“We are revisiting all the assumptions and making sure that the contract will work,” he said.