MRT 2-station solution seen gaining support

The construction of a second common railway station in Quezon City appears to be gaining support after a group backed by San Miguel Corp. (SMC) expressed its preference for a location near SM City North Edsa, a senior government official said Monday.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya told reporters that SMC’s Universal LRT Corp. Ltd., which earlier won the right to build Metro Rail Transit Line 7, had formally proposed that a station be placed near the SM property.

At the moment, there is no final location for the common station, which is supposed to accommodate three elevated railways: MRT-3, Light Rail Transit Line 1 and MRT-7. Earlier this year, SM Prime Holdings sought, and got, a Supreme Court order halting the Department of Transportation and Communication’s plan to build the common station in an area adjacent to Trinoma shopping mall of Ayala Land Inc. SM Prime said the transfer violated a 2009 agreement it had with the government.

Because of the DOTC’s plan and subsequent SM Prime lawsuit, the department said it would study the establishment of two common stations, instead of just one as originally planned. The agency described it to be a “win-win” solution.

The dual-common station configuration appears to have drawn the support of Universal LRT, according to Abaya.

“MRT-7 came to us [with] a certain proposal … for another common station at SM,” Abaya said.

He added that the MRT-7 group wanted to link their train with MRT-3, which handles over half a million passengers a day.

An official from Universal LRT did not immediately respond for comment.

MRT-7 involves the construction of a 22.8-kilometer elevated rail line, starting from San Jose del Monte in Bulacan and ending in Quezon City. It would be the first major extension of the busy MRT-3 in Metro Manila, which operates on Edsa.

Abaya said the proposal was also shown to the Light Rail Manila Consortium, a group backed by the Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. which earlier won a project to expand and operate LRT-1. The consortium was open to the option for a second common station, one of its officials said.

The DOTC earlier defended the decision to locate the common station in TriNoma, saying it offered more convenience to commuters and would cost less to build.