LRT-MRT common station should be in Trinoma, DOTC maintains

LRT 1 (Wikipedia photo)

MANILA — Even after being issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) for the construction of a Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit (LRT-MRT) common station in Trinoma, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) stands firm by its decision.

DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya maintained in an earlier interview with reporters that the contract indicated that the location for the common station is Trinoma and not SM North EDSA.

To recall, SM Prime Holdings opposed the decision to transfer the common station to Trinoma from SM North EDSA since it violates the 2009 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between them and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA).

This decision led SM Prime Holdings to seek the Supreme Court to issue a TRO against the transfer of the common station.

Abaya, however, said that the department is still looking at other measures to create a win-win solution to the problem.

The common station is part of the P65-billion LRT 1 Cavite Extension project set to be awarded to Light Rail Manila Consortium (LRMC) last month.

LRMC is the project’s lone bidder composed of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Ayala Corp. and Macquire Infrastructure Holdings Philippines Pte. Ltd.