Metro Manila Subway

A fully underground rapid rail system in Metro Manila, initially named Mega Manila Subway, was initially proposed in year 2000 by an Italian group backed by Tokyo Mitsubishi bank.[22] This first alignment runs mostly North to South along EDSA across Quezon, Ortigas, Bonifacio and finally to the airport. The proposal was approved but President Joseph Estrada was removed in 2001 and the proposal vanished. The project was proposed once more in the 2014 Metro Manila Dream Plan as a 57.7-kilometer (35.9 mi) line that would serve as the second north–south mass transit backbone for the newly expanded Greater Capital Region (the first being the North-South Commuter Railway). The Metro Manila Dream Plan (Mega Manila Dream Plan or Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and Its Surrounding Areas) is an integrated plan, created on the basis of recommendations from a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)[23] and was approved the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board in June 2014, lasting until 2030. The program aims to improve the transport system in Metro Manila, Philippines, with the hope of turning it into a focal point for addressing Metro Manila's interlinked problems in the areas of transportation, land use, and environment.[24][25]

However, the idea had been forwarded as early as 1973, when the JICA (at the time known as the Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency or OTCA) and former Secretary of Public Works and Highways David Consunji conducted a study on what shall later be Metro Manila (formally constituted on November 7, 1975). The 1973 plan was known as the Urban Transport Study in the Manila Metropolitan Area (UTSMMA), which recommended the construction of five lines and a target completion date by 1988. It was also proposed to be part of the 1977 Metro Manila Transport, Land Use and Development Planning Project (MMETROPLAN), which was funded by the World Bank. However, the plan was not included and implemented, for some of the areas included in the plan, such as Marikina and Cainta, are prone to flooding.[26][27][28] Instead, what was built was the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 1, opened on December 1, 1984 and completed on May 12, 1985.[29] Nevertheless, the current Manila Light Rail Transit System (mostly elevated) is shorter than the line system forwarded in 1973.[28]

On March 16, 2018, the Philippine and Japanese governments signed a loan agreement for the subway. The first tranche of the official development assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency amounted to ¥104.5 billion (approx. US$957 million).[13] The second tranche of the loan, meanwhile, amounted to ¥253.3-billion (₱112.1 billion). It was signed by the Philippines and Japan on February 10, 2022.[14]

In November 2018, OC Global, a Japanese consortium consisting of Oriental Consultants Global Co. Ltd., Tokyo Metro Co. Ltd., Katahira & Engineers International, Pacific Consultants Co Ltd., Tonichi Engineering Consultants, Inc., and Metro Development Co. Ltd., was awarded the ₱11 billion contract for the consulting services of the line.[30][31]

The line was originally slated to begin partial operations by 2022, with three stations: the Qurino Highway, the Tandang Sora, and the North Avenue stations, are expected to begin operations within the said year.[32] In June 2018, soil testing was conducted along the alignment. Massive tunnel boring machines will be employed for the project. In line with this, DOTR, PNR and JICA personnel inspected actual tunnel boring machines in Japan, estimated to arrive in May 2019.[33]

On February 24, 2019, the design-and-build contract for the first three stations, or its partial operability section, was signed by a Japanese-Filipino consortium consisting of Shimizu Corporation, Fujita Corporation, Takenaka Civil Engineering Co. Ltd. and EEI Corporation.[2]

On February 27, 2019, the groundbreaking for the Metro Manila Subway was held.[10]

10 months after the project's groundbreaking, construction begun its clearing phase in Valenzuela on December 21, 2019.[34][35] As part of the partial operability section, the first three stations will be built alongside the Philippine Railways Institute (PRI), the country's first-ever railway training center.[34]

In September 2020, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) presented one of the six tunnel boring machines in an acceptance test ceremony through a video conference.[36][37] The first of 25 tunnel boring machines that will be used for the subway's construction was unveiled on February 5, 2021.[38]

On December 21, 2020, Sumitomo Corporation and Japan Transport Engineering Company signed a contract with the DOTr to supply 240 train cars (eight cars × 30 trainsets) for Phase 1 of the line,[39] with the cost being approximately ₱26.75 billion.[40] The train sets are scheduled to be fully delivered by March 2027.[41][42]

On April 27, 2021, the Department of Transportation announced that the underground works for the subway will start in the fourth quarter of 2021.[43] On September 15, DOTr announced that tunnel drilling works will start in the first quarter of 2022.[44]

On September 24, 2021, the contract package for the electrical and mechanical systems was awarded to Mitsubishi Corporation.[45] In February 2022, Mitsubishi awarded a ₱57.5-billion[46] turnkey contract to a consortium led by Colas Rail and composed of Thales and Egis.[8]

On November 11, 2021, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at Camp Aguinaldo to mark the start of pre-construction activities at the Camp Aguinaldo station.[47]

In April 2022, the Department of Transportation announced that partial operations of the subway will be delayed to 2025 instead of the originally planned opening in 2022 as a result of delays brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] On April 22, a ₱13.26-billion construction contract for the construction of the Ortigas (formerly Ortigas North) and Shaw (formerly Ortigas South) stations was awarded to a Filipino-Japanese joint venture of Megawide Construction Corporation, Tokyu Construction, and Tobishima Construction.[40]

As of March 8, 2022, the project is 30.55% complete.[48]

The stations would have design features such as water-stop panels, a high-level entrance for flood prevention, earthquake detection, and a train stop system, akin to the Tokyo subway.[51] The stations are also designed to accommodate up to 1.5 million passengers daily. Full-height platform screen doors will also be built in the stations.[6]

The major stations of the line are planned to have two platform levels, one for a local train service and another for express routes. These stations are planned to have 6 floors designed for 2 platform floors, commercial shops, ticketing facilities and other amenities.[52]

Seven of the proposed stations, namely NAIA Terminal 3, Bicutan, Senate, Lawton, Katipunan, Quezon Avenue and North Avenue stations will be built on government property in order to boost property values in the surrounding areas.[53]

The line will use a moving block signalling system based on communications-based train control (CBTC), which is the first railway line in the Philippines to use a moving block/CBTC system. Its subsystems include automatic train protection (ATP), automatic train operation (ATO), automatic train supervision (ATS), train detection through track circuits, and computer-based interlocking.[6] Colas Rail will provide the CBTC signalling system for the line.[8]

The communications system will include a Multi-Service Network system, radio and telephone systems, a public address system, a closed-circuit television system and a power-SCADA system.[6] Thales Rail Signalling Solutions will provide the latest generation of their Integrated Communications and Supervision (ICS) systems, along with the automated fare collection (AFC) system for the line.[8]

Two types of rails will be employed in the subway: 60-kilogram-per-meter (120 lb/yd) rails will be employed in the mainline while 50-kilogram-per-meter (100 lb/yd) rails will be employed in the depot.[6] The rails in the mainline will consist of continuous welded rails while the rails in the depot will be jointed rails with fishplates. The tracks will be supported by concrete sleepers except for the turnouts which will be supported by plastic/fiber-reinforced foam urethane railroad ties.[6]

The line will have an underground depot in Ugong, Valenzuela, within the vicinity of the East Valenzuela station. It occupies 4 hectares (9.9 acres) of space and serves as the headquarters for the operations and maintenance of the line.[56] The trains are parked on several sets of tracks, which converge onto the spur route and later on to the main network.

A 20,000-square-meter (220,000 sq ft)[56] building will host the Philippine Railways Institute which will also be built within the depot vicinity.[34] In addition, a 900-meter (3,000 ft) test track and mock-ups of the tunnels, stations, and wayside equipment will be constructed for training purposes.[56]