It’s TriNoMa over SM as common station

The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) has chosen to locate near TriNoma (the Ayala-owned Triangle North of Manila mall) the common station it plans to build that will link the three train lines in Metro Manila.

Joseph Emilio Abaya, transport secretary said the government will return to SM Prime Holdings Inc. the  P200 million it paid to Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) for the “naming rights” of the common station on the premise that it would be located near SM North, Abaya said. It is a “naming rights” not “ location rights” Abaya said.

The government has allotted over P1.6 billion for the common station that will connect the existing Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3), the Light Rail Transit Line 1, and the proposed MRT 7 project.

LRT 1 runs from Baclaran to Roosevelt in Quezon City, while the MRT 3 runs from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City.

The planned MRT 7 will begin at Tala, Caloocan City, passing through Lagro and Fairview, Novaliches, Batasan, Diliman, Philcoa, before ending at Edsa corner North Avenue. The railway will serve an estimated two million commuters in the northern parts of Quezon and Caloocan cities.

Joseph Emilio Abaya, transport secretary, told reporters yesterday that DOTC is now looking at two options to complete the project faster: either the government will do it or tack it into the LRT 1 extension project.
Abaya said it will be cheaper to build a common station near TriNoma than at the SM North Edsa mall where LRT 1 extension ends.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. has paid P200 million to Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) for the “naming rights” of the common station on the premise that it would be located near SM North, Abaya said.

Another major priority for the DOTC is the development of metro rail lines, including the LRT Line 1 South Extension to Cavite, and the Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS). Both are being implemented under the Public Private Partnership program of the government.

The Line 1 Cavite Extension is actually the biggest project, with a total cost of P60 billion.

Half of that will be subsidized by the government with a supply of rail cars to be procured from Japan through Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The other half will be the PPP component, wherein a winning bidder will take over operation and management of the existing line while it builds the 12-kilometer extension to the southern province of Cavite.
“We expect this to benefit a lot of people, especially those whose source of livelihood is here in Manila but are forced to take a very long commute everyday. Bidding for the project is ongoing, and we have four proponents who will be submitting their proposals within the next month or so,” Abaya said.

The AFCS on the other hand seeks to replicate the efficient ticketing system of rail lines abroad, wherein riders use a contactless smart card to access the train stations.

“We hope that once this P1.72 billion project is in place, we can minimize the queuing in our train stations and increase passenger convenience,” Abaya said .

Another DOTC project is the putting up of an extension for LRT 2 to Masinag, Antipolo, which Abaya said is intended to give residents of eastern sectors of Metro Manila “a more accessible route in the metropolis.”

source:  Malaya