The Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced on Monday that the completion of the Metro Manila Subway Project has been moved anew.
The DOTr said it aims to complete the construction of the Japan-aided subway — dubbed “Project of the Century” — in 2028 and to open the subway to the public by 2029.
The agency also bared that it has scrapped its plan to partially operate Valenzuela, Tandang Sora, and North Avenue stations in 2027, which were originally included in the subway project.
The agency said opening the subway with all 17 operational stations is “more optimal for the passengers.”
DOTr Assistant Secretary for Rails Jorjette Aquino, in the ABS-CBN News report, said: “We are not looking into the partial operability of 2027.”
Aquino further said the target is full operations by 2029, adding that partial operations will not be optimized for commuters.
Transport officials on Monday showed the progress of the Metro Manila Subway Project in Valenzuela. Spanning 33 kilometers, the underground rail will connect Valenzuela City to NAIA 3 and FTI in Taguig, covering seven cities, municipalities, and three business districts.
It will also connect to the MRT-3, the LRT-2, and the Philippine National Railway lines.
It could have been faster if not for the pandemic, Aquino said, noting that the tunnel boring machine had a standard speed that could not be
increased.
“By the end of this year or by December this tunnel boring machine we are expecting it to be at Quirino Station. The North Ave. station, we
are expecting by November this year,” Aquino further said.
In 2017, the government said the proposed fare was P22 boarding fee plus P2 per kilometer, with an end-to-end fare of P88.
However, DOTr said this fare rate is still being determined and could be higher once it opens to the public in 2029 and the operations and
maintenance team is on board.
The joint venture, including Shimizu Corp, Fujita Corp and Takenaka Civil Engineering Co of Japan, and EEI Corp from the Philippines, was
tapped to design and build the depot in Valenzuela City, Quezon Highway station, Tandang Sora station, and North Avenue station.
The Metro Manila Subway will leverage Japanese technology to make the structure flood and earthquake-proof, the DOTr said.
“Our Japan design team designed this in a way similar to Japan. It is elevated. There’s even a simulated exercise when water cannot pass
through from outside,” DOTr undersecretary for Rails Cesar Chavez said.
Originally estimated to cost ₱350 billion, the project’s total cost was raised to ₱488 billion in 2021 because of four additional
stations.
From Valenzuela, the excavation will run for a kilometer and a half to reach the next station, which is Quirino in Novaliches.
The tunnel boring machine will lay down 8-10 meters of tunnel segments per day, excavating around 307-384 cubic meters of soil in the same
time frame.
Two tunnel boring machines are at work at the Valenzuela depot: northbound and southbound. Japanese contractors JIM Technology
Corporation manufactured the tunnel boring machines in its factory in Tsuri, Japan.