Quick completion of EDSA common train station sought

Various business groups yesterday urged the government for the expeditious completion of the common train station to link the LRT1, MRT3 and the ongoing MRT7 rail commuter lines in a location that will conveniently serve the expected 1.5 million commuters.

“We fully support the MOA executed among the train operators of LRT1, MRT3 and MRT7 and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) agreeing to the intersection of EDSA and North Avenue in Quezon City as the location of the common train station,” the Philippine business groups said in a statement.

The agreement is most laudable as it represents an important breakthrough of the almost decade-long impasse in the construction of a vital mass transportation hub in Metro Manila and coming so soon after the Duterte administration took over, it said.

The grand train station will finally close the missing link between the heavily used MRT3 and LRT1 as well as incorporate them with the recently approved MRT7, whose construction is ongoing. This hub will serve and be for the common benefit of the over a million daily commuters in the three train lines. Transfer from one line to another will become convenient and in a more pleasant environment.

The design calls for a much larger and more spacious station with a total floor area of 13,700 square meters compared to 7,200 square meters in the original 2009 plan. It will accommodate three train lines, including the MRT7, compared to just two lines in the original plan. It will also provide double tracks to both LRT1 and MRT3 for reliability and efficiency of their operations. Necessarily, the new design will cost more.

The grand common station will serve commuters in all train lines – LRT1, MRT3 and MRT7 – will be undertaken by the government through the Department of Transportation, except for the respective areas assigned to the private stakeholders and concessionaires.

“The government, by undertaking the common station and underwriting its cost, would facilitate the implementation of this long delayed project. By doing so, it would be a judicious investment of taxpayer funds on a vital mass transportation facility to serve train commuters,” the business groups said.

While they support this government project, the groups also urged for full transparency and adherence to required bidding rules and procedures to secure the most qualified contractor and best possible cost.

The groups include the following business chambers: American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Australia-New Zealand, Canadian, Japan, Koran, European, Financial Executive Institute of the Philippines, IT and Business Process Association, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters, Inc., Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Semiconductors and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc.