President Duterte and Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade are set to unveil the brand new train sets from South Korea for the much-awaited Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7).
The first batch of trains to be deployed for the MRT-7 project consisting of six train sets or 18 rail cars have arrived in the country last September. The entire rail system will have a total of 36 train sets or 108 rail cars.
According to the DOTr, the MRT-7 trains will use a "third rail" electrification system, which will not use overhead catenary lines, for a “cleaner look.”
“Instead of getting power from electric lines above the railway track, the trains will get its electric power from a ‘third rail’ along the track,” it explained.
The MRT-7 unsolicited proposal was first submitted to the then Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in August 2001, while the concession agreement was signed in August 2008.
Stagnant for almost two decades, the actual construction of the MRT-7 project started only in August 2016. The rail line’s overall progress rate is now at 62.10 percent.
Once completed, the MRT-7 is expected to significantly reduce travel time between Quezon City and Bulacan to just 35 minutes from the usual two to three hours.
The 14-station rail line is also expected to accommodate 300,000 to 850,000 passengers daily.
Partial operations of the MRT-7, which will include train runs for Stations 4 to 8 without passengers, are targeted for April 2022, while full operations are expected by the fourth quarter of 2022.
The MRT-7 project forms part of the administration’s flagship “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure development program which aims to ease traffic congestion and spur growth in the country’s economy.