Expansion delays feasibility study

The feasibility study of Philtram's Metro Cebu Monorail System should have been done by now, but the company said its needed to expand the coverage to Consolacion, Cebu, following an adjustment in the alignment.

Cerwin Eviota, Philtram Transportation Consortium's information officer, said they will submit their unsolicited proposal to the Department of Transportation by April.

Jose Guardo Jr., chief operating officer of Philtram, said the Monorail System is the answer to Metro Cebu's traffic woes.

The first phase of the project covers from Kawit Island in Cebu City to Consolacion. Guardo said that travel time for this route would only be about 30 minutes with a fare of P11 for the first three kilometers and P1 for the succeeding kilometer, or only about P27.

Phase II of the project will be from Kawit Island to Minglanilla, Cebu.

Guardo presented this project to the members of the Regional Development Committee-7 Infrastructure Development Committee during its First Quarter meeting last Tuesday.

Eviota said that funders are ready to finance the planned Metro Cebu Monorail for P52 billion, which will include land acquisition for depot, some sites for stations and road-right-of-way.

He added their holding company, which will forge consortium agreements with partners, will comprise the special-purpose company (SPC) for Metro Cebu Monorail. Other sites will have separate SPCs with the holding company as the common denominator.

As to the feasibility study, Eviota said they don't want to submit incomplete documents and they are doing things step by step with due diligence.

About the fund source, this will be channeled to a government funding Institution like the Development Bank of the Philippines.