Japan funds Mandaluyong automated rail line study

MANILA, Philippines - The Japanese government-funded feasibility study on the proposed Automated People Mover (APM) rail line system for Mandaluyong City is set to start as early as next month.

Councilor Roehl “Boyett” Bacar, chairman of the Mandaluyong city council’s committee on engineering and public works, said the Japan Transportation Planning Association (JTPA) advised him of the release of the funds for the feasibility study by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) early this month.

The JTPA, which will be the one to conduct the study, has projected actual and preliminary survey activities to start by the end of next month, or by October at the latest.

Japan’s METI released $1.5 million for the feasibility study.

JTPA will send a team of about six experts to conduct the feasibility study.

“The team will make available the feasibility (study report) by, tentatively, the first quarter of next year,” Bacar told The STAR in a text message. 

The city government of Mandaluyong secured in late June a crucial clearance from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for the city government to continue their coordination with the Japanese government for the conduct of further requisite technical and feasibility studies for the proposed APM project.

In a letter to Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr., dated June 30, DOTC Undersecretary for Legal Jose Perpetuo Lotilla informed the city government of their endorsement of the project.

“This is to confirm that the DOTC favorably endorses the Automated People Mover System project of the city government of Mandaluyong for the improvement of the urban environment and is willing to extend its support and collaboration,” Lotilla said in his letter.

Bacar, head of a private electro-mechanical and construction company Comm Builders and Technology Philippines (CB&T) which is currently the rail maintenance contractor of the Light Rail Transit Line 1, said the Mandaluyong city government will likely tap an overseas development assistance (ODA) loan from the Japanese government to finance the construction of the APM system.

Bacar has been tasked by Abalos to spearhead the APM development and construction project.