Proposed Mega Manila Subway to be built by 2024
“Dutertenomics” is a recently coined term to describe President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s economic policies. The term is associated with programs and policies to achieve “the golden age of infrastructure”, and the Mega Manila Subway Project is right in the middle of this golden age.
The Mega Manila Subway Project is a 57.7-kilometer underground rapid subway that would serve as the second north–south mass transit backbone for the newly expanded Greater Capital Region was introduced in a forum under President Rodrigo Duterte’s socioeconomic agenda.
IMAGE WIKIMEDIA
Construction of the said subway will begin by the fourth quarter of the year 2020, and probably be finished around the second quarter of 2024. When finished, the Mega Manila Subway will be the very first subway in the Philippines, and the fifth subway in South East Asia following Thailand’s Bangkok Metro, Indonesia’s Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit (expected to open in 2017 or 2018), Singapore’s Thomson-East Coast MRT Line (expected to open in 2019) and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City Metro (expected to open in 2020).
There are thirteen proposed stations where the subway will pass namely: Mindanao Avenue, North Avenue, Quezon Avenue, East Avenue, Anonas, and Katipunan in Quezon City; Ortigas North and Ortigas South in Pasig City; Kalayaan Avenue in Makati City; Bonifacio Global City, Cayetano Boulevard, and Food Terminal Incorporated in Taguig; and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City.
The project is estimated to cost around Php 227 billion, making it the most expensive transportation project under the Duterte Administration. However, the government of Japan has already expressed willingness to help in covering the expenses of the subway, and a loan agreement is expected to be signed between President Duterte and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe by November 2017.
Although the project is still at its developing stage, the subway promises to run trains at the speed of 80 kilometers per hour, and be able to withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake.
Written By: Patricia Antoinette M. Nacianceno
Image Source: Wikimedia, CNN Philippines Video: PTV
Source: GMA News, CNN Philippines, Business Mirror
