Unified Grand Central Station finished by Q2 2023 —DOTr exec

The Unified Grand Central Station or the Common Station will be completed by the second quarter of 2023, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Assistant Secretary Jorette Aquino said Thursday.

"Yung isa naman po na nasa North Avenue-EDSA, which is yung ating tinatawag na Unified Grand Central Station, ang expected completion po natin nito is second quarter ng 2023," she said at a televised public briefing.

(The other one in North Avenue-EDSA, which we call the Unified Grand Central Station, is expected to be finished by the second quarter of 2023.)

On Wednesday, DOTr Secretary Jaime Baustista said the opening of the Unified Grand Central Station, which was earlier set in  May 2023 will be pushed back again.

The construction of the Unified Grand Central Station started in September 2017.

Initially, the project's completion was set in the first quarter of 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns had caused delays.

The 30,700-square meter Common Station aims to interconnect the MRT-3, MRT-7, LRT-2, and the Metro Manila Subway for the convenience of train passengers.

Bautista said the DOTr is accelerating the construction of other flagship rail projects, such as the LRT-1 Cavite Extension, North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), and Metro Manila Subway.

In the meantime, the five stations under the Package 1 of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension project are set to be opened in 2024, Asec. Aguino said.

Five of the six contracts for NSCR, which has a total budget of P873 billion, have already been awarded.

For the Metro Manila Subway, which has a budget of P488 billion, eight of 12 contracts have been awarded, she added.

The MRT-7 project, which is set to fully operate by 2025, already has 57% progress, according to Aquino. —LBG, GMA News