Metro Manila subway’s first tunnel boring machine to be lowered, test run in May —DOTr

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Wednesday it would lower and test run the first tunnel boring machine (TBM) of the Metro Manila Subway project at its Valenzuela depot in May.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade inspected the ongoing construction of the Metro Manila Subway’s Valenzuela depot on Tuesday, a DOTr press statement said.

During the inspection, Tugade said, “Una, tiningnan natin 'yung mga ginawa sa Valenzuela depot. Tatapusin ‘ho ‘yun sa buwan ng Mayo—‘yung mga structures, ‘yung mga piling.”

(First, we inspected the ongoing construction at the Valenzuela depot. It will be finished in May —the structures and piling.)

“Ang sabi ng ating railway sector, May of this year, makikita ang lowering ng TBM at test run sa depot sa Valenzuela. Again, ito ‘yung magpapakita na totoo ‘yung Manila Subway,” he said.

(The railway sector said, May of this year, we will witness the lowering of the TBM and its test run at the Valenzuela depot. Again, this shows that the Manila Subway is real.)

The first two of the 25 TBMs to be used for the subway project arrived in the country early last year.

The DOTr said the subway project’s partial operability, comprising the first stations in Valenzuela City to North Avenue in Quezon City, is targeted for completion in two and a half years.

Joining Tugade in inspecting the MMSP Valenzuela Depot, and the MMSP's Tandang Sora and North EDSA stations were National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Japan Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa.

Tugade likewise expressed his gratitude to Lorenzana for allowing the development of DND and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) properties to create convenient access points and multi-modal transport plazas for five stations of the subway system.

Hailed as the “Project of the Century,” the Metro Manila Subway will be the first underground mass transit system in the Philippines – a modern railway system that will be at par with the rest in the world.

Funded by the Japanese government, the subway is a 33-kilometer rail line that will stretch from Valenzuela City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City, reducing travel time between Quezon City and NAIA from one hour and 10 minutes to just 35 minutes.

Once operational, the Metro Manila Subway can accommodate up to 370,000 passengers per day in its first year of operations.—AOL, GMA News