The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to award the detailed design and engineering consultant for the P59.3-billion Metro Rail Transit line 4 (MRT-4) project that will connect Metro Manila from Quezon City to Taytay, Rizal this July.
“One of our newer projects, the MRT-4… this line was first conceived in 1995 under President Ramos which initiated the feasibility study. And now we are about to award the detailed engineering consultant by July (this year),” said Timothy John Batan, DOTr undersecretary for railways.
The project was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee in December 2019.
NEDA Board approval was secured in January 2020.
Funded through an Asian Development Bank technical assistance loan, the 15.56-kilometer rail-based transit system aims to link parts of eastern Metro Manila and the province of Rizal. It is scheduled for operation in 2025.
The project will address the worsening traffic condition and inadequate road capacities in the densely-populated areas of eastern Metro Manila, to include parts of Quezon City, San Juan City, Mandaluyong City, Pasig City and the Ortigas Center.
The line will also link eastern Metro Manila with the neighboring municipalities of Cainta and Taytay in Rizal.
Meanwhile, DOTr is scheduled to award several contracts until the end of the Duterte administration next year to pursue the construction of major railway projects.
As of end-2020, DOTr has awarded 35 contracts on rail projects with an average contract cost of P16.8 billion per project. It is set to award 34 more contracts until 2022.
DOTr is undergoing procurement for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 1 extension to Cavite, LRT-2 West Extension, Mindanao Railway, three contracts for the Metro Manila Subway project and 12 contracts for the Philippine National Railways Clark phase 2 project.
DOTr also plans to bid out the operation and maintenance of the P356-billion Metro Manila Subway project and P778-billion North South Commuter Rail project this year.
