Mega Manila Subway set to start partial ops by 2022: Tugade

The Mega Manila Subway Project (MMSP) is set to start partial operations by the end of the term of the Duterte administration in 2022.

 (Photo By Department of Transportation (Philippines) – http://build.gov.ph/Home/Summary/26?Agency=DOTr, Public Domain)

MANILA — The Mega Manila Subway Project (MMSP) is set to start partial operations by the end of the term of the Duterte administration in 2022.

Three stations of the proposed subway system are set to open in Mindanao Avenue, North Avenue and Tandang Sora in Quezon City which are expected to accommodate around 120,000 passengers daily.

“JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) wants the partial operations to start in 2022 but we are requesting for it to happen a year earlier or in 2021,” Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade said in a radio interview over the weekend.

The PHP355.6 billion MMSP Phase 1, financed through an Official Development Assistance (ODA) from JICA will have 14 stations from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City up to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The 25-kilometer subway system is envisioned to be an underground mass transportation system connecting major business districts and government centers which is expected to serve 370,000 passengers daily in its opening year.

Its construction is expected to start as early as third quarter of 2018.