MPIC open to any location for common station

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is poised to bag the Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite extension public-private partnership (PPP) deal with its partners, said it was open to any location for a Quezon City railway common station, where a dispute has delayed the awarding of the P65-billion PPP contract.

Metro Pacific chair Manuel V. Pangilinan told reporters last week that they were “agnostic” as to where the common station, which would initially link LRT-1 and Metro Rail Transit Line 3, would be built.

“We are just interested in the train system,” Pangilinan said.

The issue erupted after the transportation department decided this year to transfer the common station from the front of SM City North Edsa to an area near the property of the Ayala group’s Trinoma shopping mall.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. sued the department in June, saying the transfer violated a 2009 agreement it had signed with the government, and in July, the company obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) from Supreme Court halting the transfer.

The suit, however, had the unintended effect of delaying the award of the PPP project because the Trinoma location was mentioned in the contract. This means sole bidder Light Rail Manila Consortium, which is led by Metro Pacific and Ayala Corp., would have to wait longer before an award is rendered.

Pangilinan said they were open to “both options” and added that they would respect the court’s decision.

Railway stations typically provide a boost to foot traffic to establishments connecting to them, making them desirable to property developers.

Due to the added layer of uncertainty when it comes to the timing of the Supreme Court’s decision, Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said last week that they might allow the construction of a second “mini” common station in front of SM City’s property.

The plan suggested that the department was willing to negotiate with SM Prime, which would be asked, in exchange, to drop its petition with the Supreme Court, Abaya said.

Under this “win-win” plan, Abaya said the SM location would provide the interconnection between LRT-1 and MRT-7, which has yet to begin construction, while the larger Trinoma station would accommodate LRT-1 and MRT-3.

It was also unclear who should fund the second common station and Abaya noted that this would be an item to be covered in the negotiations.

SM Prime executive vice president Jeffrey Lim told reporters last week that the company was unable to comment on the government’s proposal as they have not yet been formally approached. Miguel R. Camus