MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Wednesday officially kicked off the construction of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) which will connect Bulacan to the MRT-3 and the LRT-1.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Quezon Memorial Circle for the P69.3 billion project.
The project includes the development of a 23-kilometer railway system with 14 stations from North Avenue in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, according to the DOTC.
"The long-awaited MRT-7 will serve commuters who ply the heavily congested Commonwealth Avenue area for work and school on a daily basis," DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said.
Abaya added that the MRT-7 will lessen travel time from the current 3.5 hours on the road to one hour and help decongest traffic in Caloocan and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).
The new railway system is expected to be completed and operational by April 2020. The new MRT-7 will initially accommodate 350,000 daily passengers.
"Kapag natapos po ang proyektong ito, 350,000 pasahero kada araw ang tiyak na mapapaginhawa ang biyahe. Kung magpapatuloy ang pag-a-upgrade ng sistema, maaaring umabot sa 800,000 pasahero kada araw ang kayang isakay ng ating mga tren," President Benigno Aquino III said during the groundbreaking ceremony.
The MRT-7 project is part of a bigger transportation network which includes a 22-kilometer highway from the NLEX Bocaue interchange and an intermodal transport terminal adjacent to the San Jose del Monte station.
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