'Common station' more beneficial to train riders - DOTC

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will argue its case at the Pasay City court on Tuesday, regarding the petition of a private firm seeking to prevent the agency from proceeding with its common station project.

DOTC spokesperson Michael Arthur Sagcal insisted that the construction of the common station at Edsa-North Avenue of the Metrol Rail Transit 3 system will save the agency between P800 million and P1 billion.

The project would connect MRT-3 to the Light Rail Transit 1, which stretches from Baclaran to Roosevelt in Quezon City.

Sagcal said that the project will benefit more train commuters since the Quezon City government is developing the North Triangle area as a new central business district.

"A crucial feature in transportation development is intermodality. Commuters should not have to walk long distances to transfer from one mode of transport to another. Our policy is to promote traveling convenience and efficiency for commuters, which is why we have chosen the end of the MRT-3 line as common station’s location," Sagcal said.

The common station will also connect the future MRT-7, which will run from the common station to Bulacan via Commonwealth Avenue.

The case stemmed from the case filed  by the SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI) against the DOTC and the Light Rail Transit Authority last week.

The SMPHI is asking the court to stop the government agencies from proceeding with the project, citing its 2009 Memorandum of Agreement with the LRTA, which it claims binds the government to build the common station in front of the SM City North EDSA mall.

The SMPHI also argues that the National Economic Development Authority approved such a location during the previous administration or on  July 7, 2009. In exchange, the SMPHI paid LRTA P200 million for the naming rights.

"First of all, the NEDA approval that SMPHI is referring to expired in 2011.  The 2013 NEDA approval, which is in effect, allows the Common Station to be built in the more advantageous location at MRT-3. Secondly, SMPHI was publicly quoted through its president in 2013 as saying that it does not mind where the Common Station is built, as long as it can exercise its alleged naming rights," Sagcal said.