I’m quite confident that we’ll finally finish this project, and it will signal the long-awaited interconnectivity between LRT-1, MRT-3, and MRT-7 by 2027.
— Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) expects to start construction on the long-delayed Unified Grand Central Station (Common Station) by January 2026, following the termination of the contract with the previous contractor over extensive delays.
“We terminated the contract with BF Corp. three weeks ago, and now we’re finding the fastest possible way to continue this and to finish it finally,” Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said.
“We want to award it by this year and by January we commence construction and we will finish by the time MRT 7 is operational by 2027 so that’s the goal,” he said.
The agency earlier canceled the contract of BF Corp. and Foresight Development and Surveying Co. (BFC-FDSC), a company founded by the late Marikina Mayor Bayani Fernando, for the Common Station project due to excessive construction delays of the project.
The issuance of notice of termination against BFC-FDSC Consortium follows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directives to speed up and finally complete the construction of the common station which has been ongoing since 2009 to ease and reduce travel time for commuters.
“I’m quite confident that we’ll finally finish this project, and it will signal the long-awaited interconnectivity between LRT-1, MRT-3, and MRT-7 by 2027,” Dizon said.
The P2.8-billion Common Station features a 13,700-square meter concourse area which will seamlessly interconnect the rail lines of LRT-1, MRT-3, MRT-7 and the Metro Manila Subway.
The common station project has been stalled since 2009, but Former Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade settled the dispute on the location leading to its groundbreaking in September 2017.
Once operational, the Common Station is expected to serve about 500,000 passengers daily.
Dizon also said the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) would be operational for passengers by 2027 or before the end of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ‘s term.
The speedy completion of the MRT-7 after more than a decade of delay is in compliance with the President’s order to expedite the project to speed up and make the commute more comfortable for commuters so they can relax and have time for family.
“I am very confident that the MRT-7 will be completed before the end of President Bongbong Marcos’ term. So by 2027, all our countrymen will be able to ride it,” Dizon said.
The overall progress of the MRT-7 is at 83.08 percent. Once operational, the line is expected to serve 600,000 passengers per day in its first year of operation.
The MRT-7 project is a 22-kilometer elevated railway that will connect North Ave. in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, with 14 stations.
It would reduce travel time, decongest major road corridors and improve mobility across Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Darwin G. Amojelar
