AGI to break ground for Makati-Fort Bonifacio monorail Skytrain in January 2020

Alliance Global Group Inc.’s (AGI) infrastructure arm Infracorp Development Inc. is eyeing to break ground for its two-kilometer Skytrain monorail project by January next year as the company is confident it can best potential rivals in a Swiss Challenge.

“We hope to ground-break by January [2020],” Infracorp president and AGI CEO Kevin Tan told reporters on the sidelines of property arm Megaworld’s annual stockholders’ meeting in Quezon City on Friday.

Tan said the company already did the “groundwork” in preparation for potential challengers during the Swiss challenge, “so we will be awarded by September or October.”

“We are also trying to sort out right-of-way concerns,” he said.

The company’s original proposal is still with the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC), waiting for the go signal for a Swiss challenge.

In a Swiss challenge, other companies are given the chance to match or best an original proponent’s proposal.

In May 2018, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) granted AGI’s Infracorp the original proponent status for the P3.3-billion project.

Infracorp submitted the unsolicited proposal to the government on Oct. 26, 2017.

The Skytrain project will use the automated cable-propelled monorail technology. It is envisioned to reduce the travel time from Fort Bonifacio to MRT Guadalupe Makati to only five minutes.

Infracorp will make provisions for interconnecting with other transport hubs operating along the monorail route. The company envisions the monorail to benefit 60,000 to 100,000 passengers daily who  commute to and from the bustling business districts of Makati and Taguig. —VDS, GMA News