LRT-MRT common station finally pushes through

After a near eight-year delay, the construction of the Common Station linking the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1), Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) and the proposed Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT7) will finally push through.

A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed yesterday, January 18, between the government and several corporations to give the project the definitive go-signal it needs to push forward. Construction of the Common Station is set to begin on December 2017, with April 2019 eyed as the completion date.

Present during the signing were DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, LRT Administrator Gen. Reynaldo Berroya (ret.), LRMC President and CEO Rogelio Singson, and DPWH Secretary Mark Villar.

Representatives from the private sector included SMC’s Lorenzo Formoso III and SMC President Ramon Ang, LRMC Vice Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, SM Prime Holdings Chairman Hans Sy, SM Prime Holdings President Jeffrey Lim, Ayala Land Inc. Vice Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, and Ayala Land Inc. President and CEO Bernard Vincent Dy.

The station will be divided into three areas, assigned to one of the companies who signed the MOA:

• Area A will consist of the platform and concourse for LRT1 and MRT3, to be financed and built by the DOTr, who will also maintain the MRT3
  • Maintenance for LRT1 will be handled by LRMC
• Area B will have two concourses connecting Area A and Area C, to be financed, built, operated, developed, and maintained by NTDCC, an affiliate of Ayala Land, Inc.
• Area C will be the platform and concourse for the proposed MRT7, to be financed, built, operated, developed, and maintained by SMC.

Commuters will only walk between 50 and 200 meters, depending on which end of the train they get off from. The DPWH will also build an underpass along EDSA, located at the area where the Common Station will be located, financed solely by the DPWH.

Detailed plans have yet to be finalized, though the MOA stipulates that these should be completed 240 calendar days, or roughly 6 months from the signing of the MOA. The Common Station will be located at the intersection of North Avenue and EDSA, with both SM North EDSA and Trinoma having connections to the station itself.

All photos grabbed from DOTr Facebook page

Source: Department of Transportation Facebook page, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, CNN Philippines, Philippine News Agency, Business Mirror, ABS-CBN News, GMA News