The Department of Transportation said Friday the construction of Metro Rail Transit Line 7 reached a progress rate of 62.10 percent in early January.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the project’s construction is in full swing in partnership with the San Miguel Group, and that the delivery of brand-new trains from South Korea is ongoing.
MRT-7 is expected to accommodate 300,000 passengers in its first year of full operations and 850,000 by its 12th year.
Once completed, the 22-kilometer railway will link North Ave. in Quezon City and San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan province, reducing travel time from the present two to three hours to 35 minutes.
SMC president and chief executive Ramon Ang earlier said MRT 7 project aimed to alleviate traffic and pollution, boost economic activity, create jobs and opportunities and improve the quality of life in the metropolis.
“MRT-7 is a vital cog in our long-term goal to develop an integrated and interconnected transportation system where people from all income levels can get around and beyond the metropolis, quickly and efficiently,” said Ang.
The project took nearly 20 years from the submission of the unsolicited proposal before its actual construction. The unsolicited proposal was submitted to DOTC on Aug. 27, 2001, while the concession agreement was signed on Aug. 18, 2008.
Not a single post was built, and not a single train was ordered or started production as of June 2016,. Actual construction of the project began in August 2016 during the Duterte administration.