DOTC wants common MRT-LRT station in Trinoma

The Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) is moving the location of the planned Common Station for the Light and Metro Rail Transit (LRT-MRT) from SM North EDSA to Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya disclosed the Transportation Department’s preference to Trinoma Mall over SM citing cost, speed and practicality.

“The location of the Common Station should be in front of Trinoma Mall primarily because of cost. There is a huge difference (in the cost of constructing it in front of Trinoma than in front of SM),” he said.

Abaya also said placing the LRT-MRT Common Station—envisioned to be Manila’s version of New York’s Grand Central Station—in front of SM will cause urban blight.

“The structure is huge and it may cause dimness along EDSA. The speed of construction also matters,” he added.

But the Transportation official said the crucial factor in the deliberation is the construction of the turn-back facility or the reversing track where trains go to maneuver back to the mass transit line.

“It may affect operations. We want to make sure that we can build the turn-back facility without halting operations. If that could be done, we would recommend Trinoma because construction is cheaper and faster, and it would cause less urban blight,” Abaya added.

Abaya will be presenting the DoTC’s recommendation for the final location of the LRT-MRT Common Station to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board meeting on November 11. The President chairs the NEDA Board.

The DoTC, during the leadership of Jose de Jesus, had started the procurement process for the P1.5-billion contract to design and build the LRT-MRT Common Station. The bidding was indefinitely postponed after the new DoTC officials under Sec. Mar Roxas undertook review of the project and nearly scrapped it in favor of “virtual” common station with walkalators and covered pathwalks and later it was cancelled due to President Aquino's inability to deliver any improvement on the MRT and LRT upgrades.

The Common Station is expected to entice more passengers to ride the LRT line 1, which already serves 500,000 daily patrons from its Baclaran, Pasay City to Roosevelt, Quezon City stations; MRT line 3, which has a separate 500,000 daily ridership from Taft Avenue, Pasay to North Avenue, Quezon City; and the proposed MRT 7, which will run from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.