Manila: The Philippines is eyeing the construction of an underground railway system to ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila and facilitate more efficient flow of people and commerce.
Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, during a recent economic briefing, said the construction of a subway network would be among the most feasible solutions given Metro Manila’s increasing woes.
As a result of increasing population, the transportation network of Metro Manila, which has an estimated population of nearly 12 million, is already hard pressed with the limited mass transport facility.
Currently, the megacity’s public mass transportation requirement is serviced by three overhead railway systems — the Light Rail Transport System Lines 1 to 3 as well as the ground-level service of the Philippine National Railways. This is apart from the regular bus services and indigenous jeepney transport.
Previous governments have avoided using subways to solve Metro Manila’s transport woes since the metropolis is located in large part on a river delta which could cause problems such as flooding. Abaya said with that with new technologies currently available, inundation of the railways would not be a problem.
“The Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) might be a good north and south line being away from the flooded areas and earthquake-prone areas,” Abaya was quoted in reports as saying.
EDSA traverses a considerable number of the 16 municipalities that comprise Metro Manila and is currently the route of the LRT Line 3.
“Given the population and the size of Metro Manila, we are ready for subways,” Abaya said.
He added that some 70 per cent of Metro Manila residents use public transport.
National Centre for Commuter Safety and Protection’s (NCCSP) Elvira Medina said the Abaya subway plan is welcome news for traffic-weary Metro Manilan residents.
She said that as it stands, the Philippines is behind other developed cities by a century in terms of transportation.
On any given work day, the LRT 1 transports some 500,000 passengers every day while the LRT 3 moves some 540,000 commuters daily.
Since the administration of President Gloria Arroyo, the Philippines has not finished a major mass transportation project.