JICA may conduct detailed studies for subway project

30 June 2014


Japan has promised to conduct a more comprehensive study on the feasibility of building a subway system in Metro Manila, Philippines president Benigno S. Aquino III said on 24 June.

In his arrival statement after his one-day visit to Japan, Aquino said he thanked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the studies conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) that aim to improve the transportation systems in Metro Manila and in nearby areas.

Aquino's statement comes after the JICA released a transport infrastructure roadmap in early June for Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna, as requested by the National Economic Development Authority

The roadmap includes preliminary studies for a subway project in the said areas and for a new project on the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

"We will consider the possibility of further assistance for the Subway and New NAIA, for which we believe Japanese technologies can be utilized," JICA Philippines Chief Representative Noriaki Niwa said.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) unveiled last March major railway projects including the proposed PHP 135bn (USD 3bn) project to build an underground mass rail service between the Makati central business district and Pasay City.

The project is a proposed 20km loop that would consist of 16km of tunnel and 4km of elevated railway especially in the reclaimed area in Pasay City.

It would consist of 11 stations, including five underground, four interchanges and two elevated stations.