Japan lends P6.9B to bankroll MRT-3 rehab

Quezon City, Metro Manila / A Manila Metro Rail Transit System Line 3 Train traveling along Edsa/File photo

MANILA  -The governments of Japan and the Philippines signed on Friday a loan agreement for up to 17.4 billion yen or about P6.9 billion, which will fund the second phase of the rehabilitation of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3.

Signing for Tokyo was Kenichi Matsuda, chargé d’affaires ad interim at the Embassy of Japan and Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo for Manila.

This leg of MRT-3’s rehabilitation involves the line’s continuing maintenance and its connection to the Common Station with the existing Light Rail Transit Line 1 as well as the MRT-7 and the Metro Manila Subway, which are still being built.

Also, Phase 2 of the MRT-3 project is expected to improve passenger convenience and promote the use of public transportation, contributing to sustained economic growth and reducing environmental burdens.

The new loan costs 0.1 percent per year and must be paid over a 40-year period, including a grace period of 10 years.

For the first phase of this effort, the two governments signed in November 2018 a loan agreement of 38.1 billion yen.

Drastic measures were carried out as part of the Phase 1 project, which involved restoring the line’s safety, comfort, and high speed using Japanese knowledge and technology.

Phase 1 is expected to have raised the capacity of MRT-3 from 810 million passenger-kilometers in 2017 to an estimated 1.4 billion passenger-kilometers in 2022.

Also on Friday, the National Economic and Development Authority and the Korea International Cooperation Agency signed an agreement to implement the Capacity Building for Integrated Water Resources Management and Sustainable Development project.  INQ

RELATED STORIES:

DOTr needs P1.45 billion for MRT 3 platform barriers

Jica lauds DOTr for completing overhaul of 72 LRVs for MRT-3