MANILA, Philippines – Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon admitted that the opening of the Metro Manila Subway may once again be delayed.
Dizon said they are still working on acquiring right of way for the stations, and also cited project delays between the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and their partners.
“Tingin ko po partial operations by 2032, pwede na (I think partial operations will be available by 2032),” Dizon said in an interview with TeleRadyo Serbisyo on Thursday, March 20.
The project is already far behind its original schedule — the first three stations were supposed to be open by 2022, while full operations were expected by 2025. DOTr officials are trying to have the first few stations running under the Marcos administration, but Dizon said it might be unlikely.
“Pipilitin natin pero baka mahirapan tayo (We will try but we might have a hard time),” Dizon said on Wednesday.
The planned subway project has 17 stations, stretching 33 kilometers form Valenzuela to Parañaque. It will also have a branch line going to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay.
End to end travel is expected to be 46 minutes.
The subway will have 30 pieces of eight-car train sets capable of running 85 kilometers per hour, which may also accommodate up to 519,000 passengers daily. – Rappler.com
