The Department of Transportation said Monday it expects to sign a $900-million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank by the first quarter of 2024 for the construction of Metro Rail Transit Line 4 that will run from San Juan City to Taytay, Rizal.
“We are expecting that the loan agreement [with ADB] will be signed somewhere in the first quarter or second quarter of next year,” the DOTr said.
MRT 4 would be a fully-elevated mass-transit system serving the eastern side of Metro Manila and the highly-populated areas of Rizal province.
The 12.70-kilometer project, with 10 stations, is expected to address the transport bottleneck along Ortigas Avenue.
The DOTr said the project’s design stage is slated this year, while early works would start in 2024, with completion likely in 2028.
Once fully operational by 2028, the P59.3-billion MRT-4 trains could run 80 kilometers per hour at maximum speed and 25 kilometers to 40 kilometers an hour at commercial speed.
The railway will cut across the cities of Mandaluyong, San Juan, Quezon, Pasig and the municipalities of Cainta and Taytay in Rizal.
It is expected to serve 4,464 passengers at peak and 2,678 passengers an hour off-peak with an estimated travel time of 27 minutes from N. Domingo in San Juan to Taytay. The daily ridership is seen reaching 328,804 by 2030.
The ADB said the project would provide reliable, rapid, affordable and safe public transport and would reduce traffic congestion and commute/travel times from Taytay to the Ortigas CBD from one to three hours by road to less than half an hour by rail.
“With insufficient public transport options available and no capable public mass-rapid-transit systems in place, travel times during peak hours along this corridor can take an average of three hours for the 11.5 kilometer journey from Tikling in Taytay, Rizal to the Ortigas CBD in Mandaluyong City,” the ADB said.