Dubbed as the country’s “Project of the Century” the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) in the Philippines is now under construction.
The 25-kilometer mass underground transportation project is the first of its kind in the Philippines.
MMSP is designed to accommodate 1.5 million passengers daily but for the first year of its operation it is expected to transport about 370,000 people.
While the phase one operation is set to take place by 2025, partial operations shall be done this year.
This subway will encompass 15 stations within Metro Manila and is expected to pass by seven local governments and business districts in only half an hour.
“Each subway station will feature a 210m-long platform and an intermodal facility to facilitate transfers to and from road-based transport system.”
This project was initially proposed by the country’s Department of Transportation (DOTr). After the approval of the National Economic Development Authority’s Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC), the ground-breaking for the project was conducted last February 2019.
Furthermore, the project’s funding will be coming from a JICA Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan, an international cooperation agency in Japan.
JICA will provide the Philippines a total of ¥104.53bn (~$940 million) ODA loan for the first phase of the construction after signing an agreement with the PH government last 2018.