Common station to link Taguig monorail, Makati subway in Guadalupe

The proponents of key sky train and subway systems have agreed to form a vital interconnection at the Edsa-Guadalupe junction, giving commuters a mass transit option between the cities of Makati and Taguig, two thriving central business districts where traffic gridlock is an everyday woe.

Businessman Antonio Tiu-led Philippine Infradev Holdings Inc. said Makati City Subway Inc. (MCSI) had accepted a term sheet from tycoon Andrew Tan-led Megaworld Corp. for the creation of a joint-venture company that would develop a common station for the Makati subway system and the proposed Skytrain of Infracorp Development Inc.

“The common station of the two train systems shall have access and connection to the MRT Guadalupe Station and the Pasig River ferry system,” Infradev disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

Under the term sheet, MCSI and Megaworld have 60 days to finalize definitive agreements covering the proposed joint venture, including, but not limited to, the joint-venture agreement and articles of incorporation.

Infracorp, a new company created by Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI), is the original proponent of a two-kilometer monorail from Fort Bonifacio to the MRT Guadalupe Station, which is seen to benefit 60,000 to 100,000 passengers daily. The P3-billion project, which will use the automated cable-propelled monorail technology, offers five-minute travel time from Uptown Bonifacio in Taguig to MRT Guadalupe in Makati upon completion, which is targeted by 2021.

MSCI’s 10-kilometer Makati subway system, on the other hand, is targeted to be completed by 2024 to 2025 at an estimated cost of $2.5 billion, down from an earlier estimate of $3.7 billion, due to the favorable results of the final soil test alongside cost savings from the slight tweaking of the subway alignment.

MSCI, a partnership between Infradev and the Makati City government, is the corporate vehicle that will undertake the construction, operation and management of the Makati subway system.

The disclosure did not say how much commercial space will be created at the common station.

Most subway systems elsewhere in the world do not make money, except for those in Hong Kong and Singapore where earnings from property development in each station overshadow fee collection. This is the same model eyed by Tiu for the Makati subway system, which aims to build 6.4 million square meters of property over the next 15 years.