Groundbreaking for LRT-MRT common station set on Sept. 29

FILE PHOTO: The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will start the construction of the common station connecting the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) system later this month.

 (Photo: Philippine News Agency)

MANILA — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will start the construction of the common station connecting the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) system later this month.

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said the groundbreaking of the LRT-MRT common station is set on September 29, 2017.

“With this groundbreaking, we hope that we can now start the implementation of the common station project,” Tugade told reporters on the sidelines of the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Toll Interoperability Friday at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

“This was made possible through the support of the leadership of Congress as well as the private sector,” he added.

The establishment of the common station will help realize the vision of the DOTr for an intermodal and interoperable transportation system in the country as this will enable passengers to transfer seamlessly between one railway system to another.

Expected to be completed by April 2019, the 13,700-square meter common station will connect LRT Line 1 (LRT-1), Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), and the MRT-7 from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

It is a joint project of the DOTr, SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPH), Universal LRT Corporation (BVI) Limited of the San Miguel Corporation (SMC), Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), North Triangle Depot Commercial Corporation (NTDCC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA).

Last January, a memorandum of agreement was signed by the government, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, SMPH Director Hans T. Sy, Ayala Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jaime Zobel de Ayala, and SMC President and CEO Ramon S. Ang, ending a deadlock spanning nearly eight years.

Under the agreement, the common station will be located in the middle of the original 2009 site in front of SM Annex and the 2014 location near Ayala’s TriNoma mall in Quezon City.

The government will shell out PHP2.8 billion for the construction of the common station’s Area A where the platform and entrance for LRT-1 and MRT-3 will be located.

The common station will be financed and built by the DOTr, while the operation, maintenance, and development will be split between LRMC for LRT-1 and DoTr for MRT-3.