A NUMBER of companies have submitted proposals for the financing of the plan to build a 39.4-kilometer “intracity” rail transit system in Davao but these are still being reviewed because it’s a “big task” that may require a budget counterpart from the national government, an official said.
Lawyer Tristan Dwight Domingo, Davao assistant city administrator, told a press briefing on Tuesday that the P35.8-billion project is not part of the 1,532-kilometer Mindanao Railway System.
It is identified as a high priority project in the 27-year Infrastructure Modernization for Davao City or IM4Davao, he said.
He said the project needs preparations due to the cost, the current structure of the road networks, and the topography of the city but “sooner or later we will need this type of infrastructure.”
Mindanao Business Council chair Vicente Lao said in a text message on Wednesday that it would be good for Davao because it would increase local economic activities.
A briefer released by the City Information Officer identified the companies that submitted unsolicited proposals for the railway as Korean Engineering Company, Philtram/Maglev Vision Corp. and Udenna Development Corp..
It added they are eyeing to start the construction of the 15-km mass transit main line phase 1 from Davao-Bukidnon Road to JP Laurel Ave. corner R. Castillo St. in Davao by 2022.
The other components of the railway are projected to be completed by 2045.
These are the 6.6-km extension 1 (from Toril to Davao-Bukidnon Road), 7.3-km extension 2 (from JP Laurel Avenue corner R. Castillo Street, to Mudiang, and to airport, 6.9-km spur line from JP Laurel Avenue to Tagum Digos Central Station, and 3.6-km spur line from Maharlika Highway and Junction of Davao-Bukidnon Road.
The briefer said that at the rate Davao’s ridership is growing, an urban railway is necessary by 2024.
The project would be interconnected to the Mindanao Rail Transit, National Economic Development Authority 11 director Maria Lourdes Lim said.
Aside from an urban railway, the city considers the Asian Development Bank-funded High Priority Bus System worth P3.6 billion as the immediate solution to its traffic condition. (antonio l. colina IV of mindanews)
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