By end this March, the long-awaited North Avenue Common Station structure in Quezon City will be completed, fulfilling a dream of every Filipino for convenience and speed of commute.
Thus, assured Transportation Secretary Art Tugade, who inspected on March 3 the project along with Japan Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa and Chief Representative Eigo Azukizawa of the Japan international Cooperation Agency, BF Corporation CEO Marides Fernando, other transport officials and private sector partners to check its progress.
The project had been approved 15 years ago by the NEDA Investment Coordination Committee in December 2006 but is being completed this year under the Duterte administration’s BuildBuildBuild program.
The inspection consisted of a walkthrough of the Common Station, which saw significant and fast-paced improvements since Secretary Tugade’s last inspection in December 2021. To date, the Station Building of Area A is now connected to Area B or the Atrium, which is now 100 percent complete.
The 13,700 square meter concourse area will interconnect four major railway lines: LRT-1, MRT-3, MRT-7, and soon, the Metro Manila Subway Project.
Hassle free
"Notwithstanding the fact that I did not close EDSA to traffic, notwithstanding the fact that I did not suspend or realign the operations of the MRT-3, the construction of the Common Station’s building structure will be completed by end of March," Tugade said.
Targeted to start operations by July 2022, Secretary Tugade ordered commencement of operations at an earlier date, “without sacrificing quality of work and reasonability of cost.”
"I will henceforth, until my term ends, inspect and make sure that the electromechanical system will also be in place so that this Common Station – a long-time dream of the Filipino people – will come into reality. I hope it can be done during the term of President Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” Secretary Tugade said.
Meet the timeline
Meanwhile, the project’s contractor, BF Construction, committed to meet the timeline set by Secretary Tugade with non-stop construction works to complete the project. At present, BF Construction CEO Marides Fernando said the concreting of the platform level, where the MRT-3 and LRT-1 lines are set to merge, is now ongoing.
"Today, we are very pleased to welcome Secretary Tugade. You can see that the status of the [station] building is well on its way and we are rushing; 24/7 work is going on here at the station to complete it as per the Secretary's schedule," said Fernando.
For his part, Ambassador Kazuhiko, who earlier rode the MRT-3 from the Ayala Station going to the inspection site at North Avenue, lauded the relentless efforts of the DOTr to improve mobility and connectivity in the country.
Significant comfort to use the railways
“So, in the near future, I can change from the MRT-3 to the LRT-1 and MRT-7 or Metro Manila Subway via this Common Station. And I can go anywhere in a short time period. Needless to say that railway connectivity is indispensable for efficient transport. That’s why the opening of this Common Station will offer a significant level of comfort to use these railways,” Ambassador Kazuhiko said.
Once operational, the Common Station can accommodate almost 500,000 passengers daily.
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