The project is estimated to be ready to support essential operations by the end of next year with a completion estimate of over 60 percent and most of the construction work focused on the first 12 of the MRT-7’s 14 stations.
WITH San Miguel Corporation (SMC)—the private proponent for the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7)— having installed the first train sets from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem in Quezon City since last year in September, the diversified conglomerate has officially started the construction of the train depot for the upcoming MRT7 line in Bulacan.
In a statement, SMC president Ramon Ang announced that their infrastructure unit had already began construction on the depot at the 20-hectare property in San Jose del Monte City, which will serve as the main stabling area for the new rail transit system which will have the capacity to accommodate up to 150 train cars, as the company seeks to ensure room for expansion with the 36 train sets or 108 rail cars currently set for the project.
“With the necessary land area for the MRT-7 depot finally complete, we can’t waste any more time; our people are fully committed to delivering this vital project to the public as soon as possible,” the SMC president and chief executive officer pointed out in an emailed statement to the media.
The project is estimated to be ready to support essential operations by the end of next year with a completion estimate of over 60 percent and most of the construction work focused on the first 12 of the MRT-7’s 14 stations.
The MRT-7 is an unsolicited proposal of the San Miguel Group under a public-private partnership project pegged at PhP77 billion. The project involves the financing, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the 23-kilometer elevated railway that will have 14 stations connecting San Jose del Monte in Bulacan to the MRT-3 North Avenue station in Quezon City.
Aside from having the new MRT line that would link Bulacan to Metro Manila and other areas, it will also have a 22-kilometer asphalt road from the Bocaue Interchange of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to the intermodal terminal in Tala, diverting northern provincial bus operations to San Jose del Monte in a bid to decongest EDSA.
