Philippines aims to restart EDSA central train station project in Jan

Transportation secretary Vince Dizon —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is aiming to restart the construction of the derailed Unified Grand Central Station by January next year, with the goal of completing it by 2027.

Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon, during an event hosted by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines last week, said they were eyeing to award the common station contract this year.

“We’re finding the fastest possible way to continue this and finish it,” he said.

READ: DOTr ends contract with builder of MRT’s Unified Grand Central Station

In May, the DOTr issued a formal notice of termination against BF Corp. and Foresight Development and Surveying Co. (BF-FDSC) Consortium due to work delays. The contract was awarded to BF-FDSC in 2019 with the goal of finishing by 2021.

BF-FDSC, however, said the delays in construction were caused by the government’s failure to pay for work that had been completed.

The construction firm was founded by the late Bayani Fernando, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair.

The central station is envisioned to link major railways Light Rail Transit Line 1, Metro Rail Transit Line (MRT) 3 and MRT 7. The 13,700-square-meter common station is in Bagong Pag-asa, Quezon City, at the intersection of Edsa and North Avenue, and is designed to service up to 500,000 passengers daily.

The common station is designed to have an intermodal integrated system underneath it, allowing commuters to transfer and travel by buses, jeepneys or taxis conveniently.

The DOTr recently issued Department Order 2025-002 to create a Flagship Project Management Office (FPMO), which is responsible for directing policies related to infrastructure building and ensuring the “allotment of maximum effort and resources of the DOTr.”

The FPMO, headed by Dizon, monitors the progress of major infrastructure projects.