The Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced on Saturday, March 5, that the construction of the North Avenue Common Station in Quezon City will be completed by the end of this month in line with its efforts to improve the country's connectivity and mobility.
In a statement, DOTr Sec. Arthur Tugade said the completion of the project took more than 15 years since the approval of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee was only done in December 2006.
"Notwithstanding the fact that I did not close EDSA to traffic, notwithstanding the fact that I did not suspend or realign the operations of the MRT-3, the construction of the Common Station's building structure will be completed by end of March," Tugade said during the site inspection of the Common Station on March 3.
He said that the inspection consisted of a walkthrough of the Common Station, which improved since its last inspection in December 2021. The Station Building of Area A is now connected to Area B or the Atrium, which is now 100 percent complete.
He added that the 13,700 square meter concourse area would interconnect four major railway lines: LRT-1, MRT-3, MRT-7, and the Metro Manila Subway Project.
Tugade said the agency targets starting the Common Station's operations before July 2022 "without sacrificing the quality of work and reasonability of cost."
Once operational, it is expected to accommodate almost 500,000 passengers daily.