Originally proposed as a "heavy monorail" based on the likes of Chongqing Rail Transit's Line 3, the project was revised into a conventional rail system in 2022 upon the recommendation of the project consultants commissioned by the Department of Transportation. Initially expected to cost an estimated ₱59.3 billion (US$1.1 billion), it was raised to ₱87 billion due to design changes.[7] An initial US$1 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank is expected to be signed in 2024,[2] while additional funding is being sought from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.[8][4][9]
Route
The project will start at the intersection of EDSA and Ortigas Avenue in Quezon City. It will traverse the Ortigas Avenue corridor until Tikling area in Taytay, Rizal. It will then follow the Taytay Diversion Road alignment until the line ends at the Manila East Road in Taytay. Its depot will be at the site of the cancelled Excelsior Villas development beside Club Manila East and Taytay Municipal Hall.
The original plans were longer with it originally planned to interchange with the LRT Line 2 at V. Mapa according to the 2015 plans and Gilmore station according to the 2019 plans.[10][11][12]
The first project dubbed the "MRT Line 4" was proposed in 1999 as a line between Recto Avenue, Manila and Batasan Hills, Quezon City. In the late 2010s, the proposed line was renumbered as the MRT Line 8 and the Quezon Memorial Circle–Batasan Hills segment became the MRT Line 7. Meanwhile, the right-of-way for the present Line 4 can be traced to the southeast extension of the LRT Line 2, which would either be an automated guideway transit (AGT) or heavy rail line in the same fashion as the Line 2, as well as a bus rapid transit collector line towards the town of Binangonan in Rizal. However, this would utilize the Shaw Boulevard alignment due to developmental conditions at the time.[15]
As of 2021, the Ortigas Avenue corridor has an annual average daily traffic of 185,699 vehicles. However, only 9.07 percent of daily traffic comes from public utility vehicles including taxis. An average commute from Tikling in Taytay, Rizal to Ortigas CBD in Pasig City can take up to 3 hours during rush hour. This is the primary motivation to build a rail line in the vicinity to improve journey times between the two areas.[1]
Development
A new LRT Line 4 project,[4] was approved by the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) of the National Economic and Development Authority in June 2015 as a public–private partnership project,[16] with construction slated to begin in 2017 and a targeted opening date in 2021.[4] However, the initial project was not pushed through until it was approved for a second time on December 20, 2019.[9][17]
The contract for the architectural and engineering design of the project was signed by the Department of Transportation and Spanish design consultant IDOM Consulting Engineering, Architecture, SA on October 1, 2021.[18] Meanwhile, on March 30, 2023, the contract for the consultancy services for the operations and maintenance of the line was signed by DOTr and Australia-based Ricardo Rail.[19]
On October 12, 2022, the Department of Transportation confirmed that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend a loan of US$1 billion for the project. The loan agreement, which was initially expected to be signed in 2023,[2] was delayed to 2024 due to undisclosed reasons.[20]
Construction
Pre-construction activities such as soil testing have already begun in some areas along Ortigas Avenue.[21] Actual construction is expected to begin by the second quarter of 2024 and to be completed by 2027. Full operations shall begin by 2028.[1]
There are five main components in the project. This includes one each for the mainline, station buildings, depot, electromechanical systems and rolling stock.[1]
Alignment between Ortigas Center and LRT-2
The line is a component of the Manila East Rail Transit Project proposed by the Japanese government in February 2015 which aims to provide a medium-capacity rail transport system connecting central and eastern Metro Manila with the province of Rizal.[12] Its proposed alignment is along Ortigas Avenue with an option to extend the line to as far east as the Rizal municipality of Angono on the Manila East Road, and west to either of the following terminals:
Option 3: interchange with Gilmore station (LRT Line 2) via a straight path following Ortigas Avenue and Gilmore Avenue in San Juan and its western extension Granada Street in Quezon City.
Option 2 was the chosen alignment of the study owing to its capability to serve the most demand that can alleviate traffic the most on the Taytay-Cainta-Pasig-Mandaluyong-Manila corridor. Construction did not push through despite receiving approval by PresidentBenigno Aquino III last September 2015.[22]
Design
The line will be a generally elevated mass rapid transit (MRT) railway with two tracks.[1]
Originally approved as a heavy monorail line in its MRT Line 4 iteration, the Project Description for scoping (PDS) published in September 2022 presented the possible options of constructing the line as a monorail, a light rail transit, or as a "mass rapid transit" (MRT) system.[1] Of the three options, the MRT option was strongly recommended by IDOM due to ease of maintenance and abundance of technical suppliers. In addition to this, studies conducted by IDOM also determined that the ridership demand along the San Juan-Rizal corridor was higher than expected. Because of this, the recommendation to use a MRT system was accepted by the Department of Transportation later that month.[2]
The guideway will use three different girder designs for the elevated sections: segmental box, precast concrete U-type and dapped-end girders. However, the design of the box girders will be different to that of the North–South Commuter Railway, having a more rounded U shape than that of the boxier design of the NSCR girders.[1]
The line is expected to have a headway of 4 minutes, and can be further lessened to 2 minutes with the introduction of CBTC signaling.[1]
Stations
The stations are divided into two types: the narrow-width and the standard-width stations. For both types, the platform length is consistently 120 meters (390 ft) long. These will also have three levels with one each for ground access, concourse and platforms to be built on top of center islands. The narrow width stations are 17 meters (56 ft) wide and instead of having its own ground level entries, it will utilize neighboring commercial structures to access the concourse. The standard-width types are 28 meters (92 ft) wide and will have its own dedicated ground-level entrance.[1]
EDSA station will have its own design, being 150 meters (492 ft 2 in) long and will have 2 different concourses.
Rolling stock
The line will initially use 5-car electric multiple unit trains. The stations are also designed for an expansion to 6 cars. The car length for each train is 20 meters (65 ft 7 in) including couplers, which would mean a total length of 100 meters (328 ft 1 in) for the initial 5-car trains and 120 meters (393 ft 8 in) for the 6-car trains. A 5-car train is capable of carrying 1,000 passengers. To achieve the 4-minute headway target, up to 35 trainsets shall be ordered which corresponds to the number of rolling stock operators in the operations stage.[1] The trains will also be 2.8 meters (9 ft 2 in) wide.
The Project Description for Scoping (PDS) report recommends the construction of the depot at the former Excelsior Villas site in Taytay, Rizal. It is located at the Rizal end of the line near the municipal hall. Other options include a vacant lot beside SM Taytay and at the Comeco compound in Pasig. The other two sites were put as secondary alternative locations to the Excelsior site as these require additional land acquisition. The Comeco location would also need a significant realignment in the right-of-way.[1]
The depot is expected to have a 24-hour operation and will have stabling facilities, stabling track, traverser system, train storage, workshops and substation facilities.
Notes
^Not to be mistaken for San Juan City in Metro Manila. The station is proposed to be located in Barangay San Juan, Cainta near the Valley Golf Country Club and Sierra Valley Gardens.
^The St. Joseph station of MRT-4 refers to Saint Joseph Subdivision which is officially recognized as part of Barangay Santo Domingo, Cainta. This is due to a boundary dispute between Pasig and Cainta in which the Regional Trial Court (RTC) ruled in favor of Cainta on October 6, 2021.[14] However, other places in the vicinity of Santo Domingo such as SM East Ortigas, the DABBA Subdivision, and Riverside 2 (which is located in front of Ciudad Grande Executive Village at the most end-point of Cainta) are still not yet considered officially part of Pasig by the court.
Cris Pablo Jr.
https://www.facebook.com/attyjojie.pablo/posts/pfbid0368mnthYijYMmWgqjFPfm6LGxi5JSVdhaneaeDrD96Uu9C8fNjES5PB6PKgMkpfEcl
October 7, 2021
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