Common Station almost halfway complete

MANILA – The construction of the Common Station in Metro Manila is 48.5 percent complete, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Wednesday.

In a Facebook post, the DOTr said the Common Station, targeted to be completed by December this year, features a 13,700 square meter concourse area that will “seamlessly interconnect” the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1), the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2), the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), and the under-construction Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) and the Metro Manila Subway.

“This is a long-overdue transport infrastructure project that would have considerably eased mobility of commuters in Metro Manila, particularly along the main transit routes, from Baclaran to Monumento to the entire length of Edsa,” the DOTr said.

To date, the Common Station’s Area B or atrium is “100 percent complete” while the rest of the project is under accelerated and 24/7 construction.

The project’s nearing completion comes after almost after a decade of delay caused by “issues on location”.

“DOTr Secretary [Arthur] Tugade deftly navigated through the dispute of various stakeholders of the project, including two conglomerates who were vying for a better vantage point,” the DOTr said.

The Common Station is located near the corner of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) and North Avenue in Quezon City.

Once completed, the station is expected to serve about 478,000 passengers daily.