It’s been hailed as the ‘Project of the Century” in the Philippines. The Metro Manila Subway Project has been in gestation for nearly 50 years before the groundbreaking (finally) took place in 2019. It’s been four years since serious work began on the project, so how are things going right now?
Gerard de la Peña, senior correspondent for TV5, has a major update about the mega project. According to the TV5 reporter, daily progress in the tunnel is at three to five meters per day. So far, 190 meters have been bored out. It might sound like slow progress, but this is what DOTr assistant secretary had to say about it:
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“We hope we could make it faster but yung movement kasi ng tunnel boring is limited, hindi natin kayang basta bilisan. Best we can do as much as possible, walang errors para tuloy tuloy at walang aberya yung pag andar ng tunnel boring machines natin.”
The first of the tunnel boring machines was lowered into place on June 12, 2022, and underground works began on January 9, 2023, in Baranggay Ugong, Valenzuela. De la Peña’s report adds “Excavation/boring between Valenzuela and Quirino Highway Stations are expected to be completed by December 2023 or January 2024.”
At the time of writing, about 800 meters remain between the Valenzuela and Quirino Highway station. Once completed, the Metro Manila Subway should span a total of 33.1km from Valenzuela City to Bicutan, Parañaque City. What to find out more about the megabuild? Here is everything you need to know about the Metro Manila Subway project.
