The P488.5-billion Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP), the country’s first underground railway system, is now 31- percent complete and is targeted to undergo a test run by the second quarter of the year, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
DOTr recently led the inspection of several construction sites of the MMSP including the Valenzuela depot and the Tandang Sora and North avenue stations.
With the fast-paced construction of the MMSP, lowering of its first tunnel boring machine (TBM) and a test run at its Valenzuela depot will begin this May, according to DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade.
Tugade said the project should be completed in two and a half years based on timelines of the DOTr and its railway sector, referring to the stations from Valenzuela going to North Avenue.
Timothy John Batan, DOTr undersecretary, said in 2020 and 2021, major milestones were realized amid the pandemic including the award of the P27-billion contract for 240 subway train cars and the P66-billion contract for the subway’s electromechanical systems, as well as the arrival of the subway’s first two out of 25 TBM, among others.
“All in all, leading to an overall project completion rate of 30.55 percent for the Metro Manila Subway Project as of February 2022,” Batan said.
Last December, the Department of National Defense and DOTr signed a right-of-way usage agreement in which the DND-Armed Forces of the Philippines is providing 50,000 square meters of its land for the subway’s station works, an additional 60,000 sq.m. of land for interstation tunneling works, and an additional 55,000 sq.m. of land for temporary works.
The agreement covers five DND-AFP facilities: AFP Medical Center, Camp Aguinaldo, Fort Bonifacio, Villamor Air Base and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and Golf Course.These will be used for five subway stations.
