Residents of the north, particularly of Quezon City, Bulacan, and Caloocan can look forward to a faster and more convenient commute, but first they have to endure the traffic that will be caused by the construction of the train line.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT 7) was held at the Quezon Ciy Memorial Circle today, Apr 20.
“The long-awaited MRT-7 will serve commuters who ply the heavily congested Commonwealth Avenue area for work and school on a daily basis. The new railway system will not only significantly lessen travel time along this corridor, but also help decongest traffic in Caloocan and NLEX,” said DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya.
The target is to have the Bulacan-QC Railway operational by April 2020.
The 23-km railway system will reduce travel time from 3.5 hours to 1 hour. It has 14 stations from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
WIth a budget of PHP69.30-billion, MRT-7 will initially accomodate 350,000 passengers daily, but once upgrades are completed, up to 800,000 passengers per day will benefit.
According to the DOTC website, MRT-7 is part of an integrated transportation system. It also includes a 22-km highway from the NLEX Bocaue interchange, and an intermodal transport terminal (ITT) adjacent to the San Jose del Monte Station.