MRT-7 up and running by end-2019 — DOTr

MANILA, Philippines -  The Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2019, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said yesterday.

“I was given a promise earlier. San Miguel (Corp.) said they would complete the project in the last quarter of 2019,” DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said in a press briefing yesterday.

Prior to the briefing and inspection of ongoing construction works for the MRT-7, Tugade said San Miguel Corp. and its contractor, the South Korean consortium of Hyundai Rotem and EEI Corp. have agreed to finish the railway system in the fourth quarter of 2019.

MRT-7 is a 22-kilometer rail transit system with 14 stations that will connect North Avenue in Quezon City to San Jose Del Monte City in Bulacan.

The 14 stations will be along North Avenue, Quezon Memorial Circle, University Avenue, Tandang Sora, Don Antonio, Batasan, Manggahan, Doña Carmen, Regalado, Mindanao Avenue, Quirino, Sacred Heart, Tala, and San Jose del Monte.

In the same event, Norberto Conti, head of technical service for infrastructure at SMC Mass Rail Transit 7 said the MRT-7 would have 36 train sets or 108 train cars which are expected to carry about 500,000 passengers per day.

“Once we have this, we’ll improve the predictability of travel,” he said.

In addition to the MRT-7, he said SMC would also be building a six-lane 22-km highway which would link San Jose Del Monte to the North Luzon Expressway.

“The objective is to bring buses from the north. The passengers of the bus could take the train to go to Metro Manila,” he said.

To enable SMC to complete the project by 2019 and address right of way issues, Tugade said the National Housing Authority guaranteed the availability of 6,000 housing units in Bulacan and Rizal for informal settlers who would be affected by the project.