Design changes hike cost of building MRT- 4

MANILA, Philippines —  The government is gearing up to take on higher debt for the construction of a railway to Taytay, Rizal as the project will require more capital to cover the changes in its technical structure.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) eyes to sign the loans for the Metro Rail Transit Line 4 (MRT-4) within the year to get the civil works started as soon as possible.

Currently, the DOTr is waiting for the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to approve the adjustment in the cost of building MRT-4.

Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said the project cost would likely increase by double digits than initially planned. Originally, MRT-4 was estimated to cost P59.3 billion, but it has to be changed to cover design revisions.

Previously, the government had wanted to put up the MRT-4 as a monorail between Quezon City and Taytay. Under this, the proposal was to borrow $1 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and $537.4 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

However, the DOTr decided to change the MRT-4 to a metro rail system to accommodate future demand for public transport in the eastern metro.

“We are still targeting to have these [loans] approved by the ADB board, as well as AIIB board, within the year, as right now we need to get a NEDA board re-approval first,” Batan said.

“When we reviewed the passenger projections, we saw that passenger projections in the eastern [corridor] of Metro Manila, which is really the catchment of the MRT-4 – everything from Pasig, Ortigas, Manila East, Taytay, Angono, Binangonan – the demand cannot be served by monorail,” he added.

In the revised project structure, Batan said the ADB and AIIB will still cover up to 85 percent of the capital requirements. The government, for its part, will shoulder the remaining cost.

Based on the latest design, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, the MRT-4 will span 12.7 kilometers with 10 stations. The railway will place five of its stations in Metro Manila: in EDSA in Quezon City and in Meralco, Tiendesitas, Rosario and St. Joseph in Pasig City.

In Rizal, the MRT-4 will pass through Cainta Junction, San Juan, Tikling Junction, Manila East Road and Taytay.

Upon completion, the MRT-4 will bring down the travel time from Ortigas to Taytay to less than an hour, from three hours currently.