Photo supplied by the Department of Transportation shows ongoing construction of the Common Station.
REPRESENTATIVES of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday said the construction of the Unified Grand Central Station, or the Common Station, is progressing on schedule.
“This is a catch-up project. We are on-track on catching up,” said DOTr undersecretary for railways Timothy John Batan said during a media tour of several government infrastructure projects. “This is a project that is very close to [transportation] Secretary [Arthur] Tugade’s heart dahil sa mga pagsubok na pinagdaanan natin (because of the challenges we faced). Pero dahil sa tiwalang ibinigay niyo sa amin ay naisasagawa na po ito, (But because the people trusted us we were able to proceed with the project).”
The Common Station is a 13,700-square meter concourse comprised of three areas: Area A under the DOTr, Area B under Ayala Land, Inc., and Area C under the MRT-7 Project facilitated by San Miguel Corp. It is located at the north end of EDSA, and is at the intersection of four railway lines, namely the Light Rail Transit Line 1, Metro Rail Transit Line 3, Metro Rail Transit Line 7 and the Metro Manila Subway.
Ayala Land, Inc. has started constructing Area B since the Common Station broke ground in 2017. Construction of Area A has started after its contract was signed in February, according to the transport agency.
The DOTr said the station aims to provide a seamless transfer of passengers from one rail line to the other. It added the station has a transit area for commuters and an automated fare collection system. When completed, it is expected to serve an estimated 500,000 passengers daily.
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