UPDATE: MRT-7 PROJECT ([ Ссылка ])

==============Special thanks to Chroid Mon for narrating this episode.==============

Public rail infrastructures have secured approval last week to restart “limited works” during the enhanced community quarantine, providing a necessary boost to lagging economic activity as the #Duterte government vowed to proceed with its infrastructure agenda.

Nothing can stop the construction of the country’s Project of the Century, the first-ever subway system, not even the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, the civil works of the project were continued after the IATF gave the green light for its continuation. It can be recalled that clearing operations at the Valenzuela depot were carried out in December 2019 to formally signify the start of the subway’s construction, which is a clear manifestation that the railway project is on the works. Earlier this year, the Transportation Department unveiled to the public on February 24, the major parts of the tunnel boring machine that the contractor Shimizu Corporation purchased from the Japanese firm, JIM Technology, Incorporated.

The major parts of the machine which were unveiled include the shielding jack, cutter reduction gear motor, main bearings, and articulation jack. Tunnel Boring Machines are integral in building the subway as these are used to dig underground and lay the tunnels. These machines can excavate through a variety of ground conditions, from hard rock to sand. Each boring machine can cost around 4 billion pesos; the entire project will be using 25 of it.

The first tunnel boring machine is expected to be delivered in August of this year, about four months ahead of schedule. After the machine’s delivery in August, the tunneling will begin from the East Valenzuela Station in Barangay Ugong in Valenzuela City towards Quirino Highway Station. The #MetroManilaSubway will have 15 stations which will be located in Mindanao Avenue, Tandang Sora, North Avenue, Quezon Avenue, East Avenue, Anonas, Katipunan, Ortigas North, Ortigas South, Kalayaan Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Cayetano Boulevard, the Food Terminal Inc. complex and Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The entire project will span for 36 kilometers, costing the government some 356 billion pesos which is loaned from Japan. The said amount has an interest of 0.1% and is payable in 40 years with 12 years grace period. Partial operability of the project is seen on the last quarter of next year or, the early quarters of 2022 before President Duterte steps down. Phase one is expected to be completed by 2025 with a projected daily ridership of 370,000 passengers.

This project is revived by the Duterte administration, after the comprehensive study of Japan International Cooperation Agency, showed that the country is losing 3.5 billion pesos every day due to traffic in Metro Manila alone, and could increase up to more than 5 billion pesos per day if left unaddressed. This, and the rest of railway projects, are a manifestation that the Duterte government is taking the traffic problem seriously.

The Inter-Agency Task Force’s quarantine exemption on infrastructure works came just as the government extended the Luzon-wide lockdown to April 30 and with a possibility of extending it further to May which the President will be announcing today. Economic managers wanted the “Build Build Build” infrastructure program to continue, as they bank on a capital outlay boost to save the economy from an expected downturn due to the pandemic.

While infrastructure building will resume, the task force said it would do so under conditions of “limited mobilization” and skeletal workforce, a mechanism that allows social distancing to be practiced to avoid the virus contagion.

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