Plan to build 2 common rail stations in QC stays

The Department of Transportation and Communications is moving forward on a compromise deal to end a multistakeholder row over the location of a common railway station in Quezon City—an issue blamed for delaying other infrastructure projects, like the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7).

Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya told reporters that the department was keeping a plan to build two common stations hundreds of meters apart—one each near the SM City North Edsa shopping mall and Ayala Land Inc.’s Trinoma shopping mall, across the street.

Abaya said the DOTC had obtained the backing of both the operator of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1), led by Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., and the San Miguel Corp.-backed consortium behind MRT-7.

He said the next step was to present the plan to Henry Sy’s SM Prime Holdings Inc., which operates SM North Edsa, within the week or by August 2015.

SM Prime sued the DOTC in 2014 after the government agency decided to locate the station—a coveted piece of infrastructure because of the foot traffic it lures— near Trinoma, allegedly violating a 2009 agreement stating that the station be located at the Annex of SM North Edsa.

The Sy-led developer won a Supreme Court restraining order last year, preventing the DOTC from proceeding with its plan to build the connecting station in Trinoma.

This prompted the current two common station configuration, which may convince SM Prime to drop its case, Abaya had said.