By MYLA IGLESIAS and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
Actual construction works for the country’s first underground railway, Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) began yesterday with the deployment of tunnel boring machines (TBM) in Valenzuela City.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Jaime Bautista, secretary of the Department of Transportation, led the TBM launch in Valenzuela City to jump-start the construction of the project that will be fully operational by 2028.
President Marcos Jr. said the public can look forward to “better days ahead” in the public transportation system as he reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to pursue more big-ticket infrastructure projects, and sustain the implementation of those that have already been started.
Bautista for his part said the start of MMSP’s tunneling work “signifies the point of no return.”
“We are going full speed ahead to complete the country’s first subway,” Bautista said, stressing the value of interconnectivity and the “urgent need” to provide a railway station at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport/
The MMSP’s Contract Package 101 (CP101) is part of the seven civil works contracts of the project and involves the construction of three underground stations in Quezon City and an additional semi-underground station in the northernmost part of the Valenzuela City depot.
Six units of TBM will be utilized for CP101 to complete the excavation for the tunnels and will use a top-down construction method to build the stations.
Around 1.2 million cubic meters (cu.m.) of soil using cut-cover and the TBMs are to be excavated for the partial operability section of the project or an equivalent of 500 Olympic size swimming pools.
For the tunnels alone, the excavation will be around 711,000 cu.m. or the equivalent of 285 Olympic size swimming pools.
Billed as the Philippines’ “Crown Jewel” of the mass transit system, the Metro Manila Subway will cut across eight cities, stretching from Valenzuela City to FTI-Bicutan in Parañaque City with a spur line to NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay City.
With a total 33-kilometer route length and 17 stations, the country’s first underground railway system aims to cut travel time between Quezon City and NAIA from the present one hour and 10 minutes to just 35 minutes.
Once operational, the railway system can serve up to 519,000 passengers daily.
The three depots are located at the Quirino Highway station, Tandang Sora station, and North Avenue station with six tunnels between them.
The East Valenzuela station will be constructed in the depot area located in Mindanao avenue with a total range of 6.9 kilometers while pre-construction work is now ongoing both in the Quirino Highway and Tandang Sora stations.
“We will continue to invest and improve on our transportation systems as well as pursue more projects in the years to come, so that Filipinos can gain greater access to places of work, commerce, recreation and other vital areas,” Marcos said.
He, however, asked for the public’s continued patience, trust, and support for the government as big-ticket projects such as the subway projects take years to complete.
Marcos also thanked the Japanese government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency for being the Philippines’ active partners in the fulfillment of the country’s infrastructure programs.
The average tunnel depth is 18.5 meters, or 9.26 km for the three stations. Tunnel boring productivity takes about 180 meters per month, or 12 months for each section, including related works
