The Department of Transportation (DOTr) yesterday said it has over 200 projects under construction including major rail projects which are expected to be fully completed beyond 2022.
As of June, DOTr data showed that 10 railway projects are under construction, of which four projects — the Metro Rail Transit line 7, Common Station, Mindanao Railway and Philippine National Railways (PNR) Bicol — are expected to start partial operation before the end of the Duterte administration next year.
DOTr said the Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 1 extension project is 57 percent complete. Its partial operation is targeted in October 2023 and full operation by second quarter of 2027.
The Metro Manila Subway’s partial operation is set by the fourth quarter of 2026 and full operation by third quarter of 2027.
The PNR Clark phase 1 and 2 projects will begin partial operation by the second quarter of 2023 and full operation in the second quarter of 2024.
The PNR Calamba’s partial operation is slated in the fourth quarter of 2025 and full completion by 2028.
The Subic railway project is targeted to start full operation in 2024.
So far, DOTr has started operating the new Marikina and Antipolo stations of the LRT-2 East Extension project last month.
Meanwhile, DOTr has completed 214 airport projects while 100 more are ongoing since 2016.
These projects include Clark International Airport’s new terminal building, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Bohol-Panglao International Airport as well as the airports in Sangley, Kalibo, Dumaguete, Ormoc, Tuguegarao, Camiguin, Tacloban, General Santos, Catanduanes, Zamboanga, Calbayog, and the new communications, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management system, among others.
In the railways sector, DOTr has completed the LRT-2 East Extension project.
In the maritime sector, DOTr has finished 451 seaport projects while 101 more are being fast-tracked.
The completed projects include the Port of Cagayan de Oro, the country’s biggest port passenger terminal building to date; Currimao Port in Ilocos Norte; Victoria Port in Laguna; the Ports of Tagbilaran, Tubigon and Maribojoc in Bohol; the Ports of Borac, San Fernando and Bataraza in Palawan; the Ports of Dumaguete, Limasawa and Ormoc; and the Ports of General Santos, Babak in Davao Del Norte, Cantillan in Surigao in Mindanao, among others.
In the road sector, DOTr has completed nearly 500 kilometers of bike lane networks in Metro Cebu, Metro Davao and Metro Manila; the Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange; and the EDSA Busway.
DOTr also initiated the country’s first service contracting program, which pays drivers on a per kilometer run and grants performance-based incentives.
“Five years after we took the helm of the Department of Transportation, we can say that we have successfully initiated a transformation. And this is not just a transformation of the transport infrastructure landscape. This is about the transformation in the way we do things — our culture,” Arthur Tugade, DOTr secretary, said in a statement.
