By DIANN IVY CALUCIN
The Valenzuela City local government met with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Philippine National Railways (PNR) on Monday, Nov. 14, to discuss the upcoming subway and railway projects in the city.
The meeting was attended by Valenzuela City Mayor Weslie "Wes" Gatchalian, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary Cesar Chavez, and Acting Philippine National Railways (PNR) General Manager Jeremy Regino.
The city government said the East Valenzuela Subway Station of the upcoming Metro Manila Subway will be the northern terminal and will be located in Barangay Ugong.
Metro Manila Subway, formerly known as the Mega Manila Subway (MMS), is a 36-kilometer underground rapid transit line in Metro Manila that will run north to south across Quezon City, Pasig City, Makati City, Taguig City, Parañaque City, and Pasay City.
It will consist of 15 stations between East Valenzuela and Bicutan stations.
Meanwhile, the train stations and depots of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) will also be built in Valenzuela City.
NSCR is a project of the DOTr and PNR that will connect the centers of Clark and New Clark cities in the north to central Manila cities and Calamba city in the south.
The city government said the MMS and NSCR are the two biggest infrastructure projects in the country.
It added the infrastructures will help residents in the city and neighboring cities not just in transportation but also in job opportunities.
"Tiyak na malaking tulong ang mga ito sa mga Pilipino sa oras na matapos ito, lalo na pagdating sa pagnenegosyo at job generation. Higit sa lahat, malaking ginhawa ito sa libo-libong commuters na bumibiyahe araw-araw (These will definitely help Filipinos once fully constructed, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship and job generation. Above all, this is a great relief to the thousands of commuters in the city who travel every day)," Gatchalian said.