DOTr, San Miguel unveil first batch of MRT-7 trains

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ix train sets, or 18 rail cars, manufactured by South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem, were unveiled on December 16. The entire MRT-7 will have a total of 36 train sets or 108 rail cars. Photo from Department of Transportation.
  • The Department of Transportation and San Miguel Corp. unveiled the first six train sets for the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) project
  • The rail project is 56.03% complete with test runs to begin in December 2022
  • Once finished, the 22-kilometer rail and road development will have 14 stations
  • MRT-7 can accommodate 300,000 passengers daily during its first year of operations and 850,000 passengers daily by its 12th year
  • It will reduce travel time from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan to just 35 minutes from the current two to three hours

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and San Miguel Corp. (SMC) have unveiled the first six train sets for the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) project, eyed for test operation in December 2022.

President Rodrigo Duterte on December 16 led the unveiling of the six train sets, or 18 rail cars, manufactured by South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem.

The entire MRT-7 will have a total of 36 train sets or 108 rail cars.

“MRT-7 is a vital cog in our long-term goal to develop an integrated and interconnected transportation system where people from all income levels can get around and beyond the metropolis, quickly and efficiently,” SMC president and chief executive officer Ramon Ang said in a statement.

The unsolicited project, a 22-kilometer rail and road development starting from North Avenue, Quezon City and ending in the City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, is 56.03% complete with test runs slated to begin in just a year’s time or starting December 2022.

This progress follows delays in rights-of-way acquisition, relocation of utilities, and work limitations caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, SMC noted.

Once complete, MRT-7 will have a 14-station railway line and will be connected to the existing Light Rail Transit Line 1 and MRT-3.

The 14 stations will be Quezon North Avenue Joint Station; Quezon Memorial Circle; University Avenue; Tandang Sora; Don Antonio; Batasan; Manggahan; Dona Carmen; Regalado; Mindanao Avenue; Quirino; Sacred Heart; Tala; and San Jose del Monte.

The MRT-7 project is expected to reduce travel time from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte Bulacan to just 35 minutes from the current two to three hours. It can accommodate 300,000 passengers during its first year of operations and 850,000 passengers daily by its 12th year.

The project is an integrated transit system undertaken and fully funded by SMC under a Build-Gradual Transfer-Operate, Maintain and Manage scheme under the Build-Operate-Transfer Law.

The project agreement was signed on June 18, 2008 between DOTr and its private sector partner, Universal LRT Corporation (BVI) Ltd, which SMC partially acquired in 2010 and fully owned in 2016.

SMC started construction of MRT-7 in August 2016.

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