Common Station For 4 Metro Manila Railways To Be Completed By 2022

Written by Marc Adrian

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said that the common station that will link four railway lines in Metro Manila will be finished by 2022, and they have inked the building contract for part of the facility on Wednesday.

Dubbed as the Unified Grand Central Station (UGCS), the facility being built at the junction of EDSA and North Avenue in Quezon City will link the LRT-1, MRT-3, the MRT-7, and the Metro Manila Subway. DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Timothy Batan said the UGCS’ capacity has been raised to 1.2 million passengers a day from the initial 500,000.

The common concourse of the station also went up to 13,700 square meters from an earlier 7000 square meters (sqm) because of the addition of facilities for the subway. The facility has also been divided into 3 sections and are called Areas A, B, and C.

Area A is the area which the government has awarded to BF Corporation. It will feature the concourse and platforms for LRT-1 and MRT-3. Area B will be beside Trinoma Mall and will be built by Ayala Corp. This will connect Area A and C. Meanwhile, Area C will be built by San Miguel Corp and will be situated beside the SM North Edsa mall. This section will serve as a platform for the MRT-7.

According to the DOTr, Area A is set to be completed by 2020, while the entire Common Station is expected to be operational by 2022. The government decided to split the UGCS into three following years of delays due to legal disputes over where the common station was supposed to be built.

One of the challenges that will arise upon the construction of these infrastructures is the flow of traffic, according to BF Corp.

“The mobility will be, of course, limited because of the location of the project,” said BF Corp general manager Lucenda Vergara.

Construction is expected to start in 3 months and will last for 20 months.

[Source]