The P1.4-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT 1) North Extension Project, otherwise known as the Common Station, will be built in front of TriNoma Mall in Quezon City as this would result in about P1-billion savings to the government.

Transportation Undersecretary for Planning Rene K. Limcaoco said that the final design for the infrastructure is scheduled to be done as early as June this year.

The government has been studying which mall in North Edsa would best suit the parameter set on the common hub between the Sy-led SM North Edsa Annex or TriNoma Mall which is owned by the Ayala family.

And based on government studies, building the common hub near TriNoma would result in a billion-peso in savings, less urban blight and a faster construction of a turn-back railway system, the official said.

“The design for the common station is longitudinal, so you would argue that it is almost equidistant between everyone [including SM North Edsa Annex], it’s not only at TriNoma,” Limcaoco said.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. earlier made a P200-million down payment to the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) for the naming rights of the station.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya had said that the government is ready to return the down payment to the Sy-led firm.

But his undersecretary said that it is not necessary to do so, as the station could still be named after the SM Group.

“It can still be named. It’s not necessarily going to be named ‘TriNoma’; it can be called ‘SM-TriNoma’, ‘TriNoma-SM’, ‘Edsa-TriNoma-SM’, whatever you want to call it,” Limcaoco explained.  The said project will be auctioned off along with the P64.9-billion LRT 1 Cavite Extension contract. The prospect has yet to be finalized.

The common hub will link three mass-railway systems in Metro Manila, namely, LRT 1, Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3) and the proposed MRT Line 7 (MRT 7).

The common station project also involves the construction of head-to-head platforms for LRT 1 and MRT 3 with a 147.4-meter elevated walkalator to MRT 7 on North Avenue.

The P62.7-billion MRT 7 project, meanwhile, entails the construction of 14 train stations starting from San Jose del Monte in Bulacan to North Avenue in Quezon City. The government is poised to award the multibillion-peso contract to San Miguel Corp. after reaching financial closure.

At present, LRT 1 runs from Baclaran to Roosevelt in Quezon City, while the MRT 3 runs from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City.

 

22 April 2014

By Lorenz S. Marasigan