LOOK: The Metro Manila Subway Is Shaping Up

(SPOT.ph) The Philippines’ first underground mass transportation system is on track to being completed in our lifetime. That’s right—we’re talking about the government’s very ambitious Metro Manila Subway Project.

As of January, the Metro Manila Subway has reached “an overall project implementation progress rate at 40%” as per the Department of Transportation (DOTr). This milestone was highlighted during a recent site inspection by DOTr officials, along with Finance Secretary Ralph Recto and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) representatives on February 26.

If everything goes to plan, the Metro Manila Subway should be fully operational by 2029.

What to know about the Metro Manila Subway

PHOTO BY Facebook/Department of Transportation – Philippines

The Metro Manila Subway will feature 17 stations in 33 kilometers, connecting Valenzuela City to Pasay City with a spur line to Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Once completed, the DOTr said it is expected to reduce travel time from Valenzuela to Pasay to 35 minutes from the previous 1 hour and 30 minutes. Each of the 42 train sets planned for the subway will have a capacity of 2,242 passengers, which totals to over 500,000 passengers per day.

The project broke ground as early as February 2019, but actual construction had only commenced in January 2023 amid previous right-of-way issues on top of the delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Metro Manila Subway is currently being financed through multiple loan tranches from JICA, with the government targeting to secure a P55.7 billion loan for the third tranche by March.

“With the support of JICA, we are implementing this project on time for completion in 2029,” DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said in a press release.