With ongoing full blast construction work despite the pandemic, the P63-billion Metro Rail Transit 7 (MRT-7) is now 58.95 percent complete, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced yesterday .
The 22-km. railway transport will run from North Avenue Station to San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, with 14 stations.
It will cut travel time from end to end from 2 hours to 34 minutes, easing traffic in Quezon City
Once operational, the rail line is expected to serve 300,000 to 850,000 passengers per day, with room for capacity expansion to accommodate future increase in ridership.
The railway will be partially operable next year, with full revenue service by 2022.
The MRT7 project, classified as a national infrastructure project, had been hobbled with delays for the past 17 years.
For the last couple of years, it has also been mired in Right of Way (ROW) issues.
SMC took over in 2016 and broke ground for the railway at the Quezon Memorial Circle.
So far, all of MRT 7’s trains and coaches have been completed, tested and ready for shipment from South Korea.
The viaducts are almost finished and the stations are being completed.
The depot problem has been solved after the Quezon City government lifted the cease and desist order on the construction of the MRT 7’s Quezon Memorial Circle (QMC) station in February.
This came after the QC government and its stakeholders – environmentalists, representatives from the National Housing Unit (NHA), engineers, residents, and others, approved the new design of the MRT 7 station which San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and EEI Corporation presented.
The local government was apprehensive that the project would “affect the landmark’s identity as a national heritage park”and called for a “win-win” solution to protect open spaces and advance the welfare of commuters.
From the initial design of 11,000 square meters above ground, the project proponent whittled down the final design to a 426-square meter, above ground structure, with a height of just 6-7 meters.
by Emmie V. Abadilla
July 14, 2020
