DOTr ramps up ROW acquisition for subway

- Advertisement -

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is ramping up the right-of-way (ROW) acquisition for the 33-kilometer Metro Manila Subway project, which is on track to be operational in the next five years.

Jaime Bautista, DOTr secretary, said the government has acquired 55 percent of the project’s ROW requirement and is expected to resolve all the ROW issues in due time.

“We are on top of these…we should be able to resolve all these right-of-way issues in due time. But still, we’re expecting that we should be able to complete this project by 2029,” Bautista said during his inspection of the project’s tunnel boring machine’s initial drive at the railway system’s North Avenue Station yesterday.

- Advertisement -

The Metro Manila Subway, which has 17 stations, is  11 percent complete in terms overall construction and is expected to start operations by 2029, according to Bautista.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Regino, DOTr undersecretary for rails, clarified the agency will only expropriate properties affected by major rail projects, such as the Metro Manila Subway, as a last resort in resolving contentious ROW issues.

Regino in a media briefing said expropriation of properties would be the government’s last recourse should negotiations with affected property owners face an impasse.

“We have now shortened the negotiation process. If there will be no agreement, we will have to file expropriation proceedings but without prejudice to continue with the negotiations,” said Regino who joined Bautista during the inspection.

“We are doing our best to convince property owners, all things considered, that their concerns are already factored in,” he said.

Regino added that completion of the project is still well within the DOTr’s 2029 target.

The first underground railway in the country, the Metro Manila Subway is a 33-kilometer railway system connecting Valenzuela City to Pasay City with a spur line at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Parañaque City.

Once operational, the subway is expected to reduce travel time from Valenzuela to NAIA from one hour and 30 minutes to 35 minutes, servicing 519,000 passengers daily.

 

Author

- Advertisement -

Share post: