An opposition lawmaker lauded on Sunday a plan of President Rodrigo Duterte to invest P17 billion to expand the capacity of commuter trains in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
Buhay Representative Joselito Atienza said the improvement of the mass transport system is the best solution to address the traffic woes and to directly help the riding public.
“Fresh government subsidies to passenger trains are imperative to cope up with the growing demand for high-speed and affordable public transportation,” he said. “If there are more trains all around, people are bound to rely less on their cars when going to work or school simply because they could be able to save a lot of time, and cut down on gas consumption and parking expenses.
“The proposed P3.767-trillion national budget for 2018 has some P17 billion in new appropriations to support rail projects, such as P4.8 billion in subsidy to the Metro Rail Transit line 3, plus P1.0 billion for increase capacity; P1.3 billion for the Light Rail Transit line 1-Cavite extension project, and 11.7-kilometer line from Baclaran, Parañaque City to Niog, Bacoor City that are projected to increase the mobility of 410,000 passengers daily.
Also included is the P1.2 billion budget for the unified common station project at SM North Edsa and TriNoma malls in Quezon City to transport 500,000 commuters daily from one line to and from MRT line 3, LRT line 1 and MRT line 7.
According to Atienza, the rail projects could “create more livable settlements, enhance property values around stations, increase local property and business taxes, and tend to drive the renewal of communities.
”Under the train system projects, he said, air quality in Metro Manila would improve, too.