DOTr eyes finishing the Unified Grand Central Station by 2027

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The P2.8-billion project was awarded to BF Corp. and Foresight Development and Surveying Co. in 2019 and it was supposed to be completed in 2022

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is hoping to complete the Unified Grand Central Station (UGCS) or the common station of the three railways in Metro Manila by 2027.

In a Senate hearing on Tuesday, May 27, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said the common station’s completion is important as San Miguel Corporation (SMC) — the operator of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT7) — has already given an updated timeline on the completion of the railway.

“Kung ang common station po ay hindi pa tapos e kawawa pa rin po ang mga commuter natin kasi hindi pa buo… ang MRT7 papasok po ng common station yan, Mr. Chairman,” Dizon said.

(If the common station is not finished by then, our commuters will end up suffering because it has yet to be completed… the MRT 7 goes through the common station, Mr. Chairman.)

“And for us to do that, hindi na po tayo pwedeng magturuan pa, tatagal tayo ng anim na buwan o isang taon na magtuturuan lang tayo (We cannot continue to point fingers, it will take another six months or up to a year if we point fingers),” he added.

Based on the project design, the MRT7 will share a joint station with MRT3 and the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1) at EDSA corner North Avenue, Quezon City. In April, SMC tapped the Korea Railroad Corporation to help set up MRT7’s operational systems, among others, signaling that the project is back on track.

MRT7 will stretch from North Avenue in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. LRT1, which now runs from Fernando Poe Jr. station in Quezon City to Dr. Santos in Sucat, is being extended from Parañaque City to Bacoor, Cavite. MRT3 starts at North Avenue in Quezon City and ends at Taft Avenue in Pasay City.

SMC said MRT7 trains will be tested by the end of 2025 and full operations are expected by 2026.

The P2.8-billion project for the common station was awarded to BF Corporation and Foresight Development and Surveying Company in 2019. It was supposed to be completed by 2022.

However, the project faced multiple delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This then had a “domino effect” on construction work.

“Naging compounded na ‘yung delay and maraming impacted, lalo pagka critical path yung isang punto, e lima ‘yung nakadepend dun… lima ngayon yung madedelay,” said Ding Ortiz, a representative of contractors BF Corporation and Foresight Development and Surveying Company.

(The delays were compounded and many were impacted, especially when the one affected is a critical path of one point, that means five other things depended on that… five other things will get delayed.)

He also pointed out that some of their obligations were unfunded.

Dizon said the contractors have not yet been fully paid. He also noted that the DOTr and the company faced problems in 2022, 2023, and 2024, but did not provide further details.

The transport chief said he had to “make the difficult decision” to terminate the contract in May. The DOTr is now looking to tap another company to complete the project quicker through the New Government Procurement Act.

“We can find a way to settle kung sino man ang may utang, kung ang gobyerno ang may utang o may pagkukulang din ang contractor (whoever has debt, if it is the government that owes something or the contractor has unfulfilled obligations),” Dizon said.

“We will find a way to solve that but in the meantime, we’ve terminated it so we can move on and look for another group that can finally finish this project once and for all,” he added. – Rappler.com