A bit of good news for the metro's millions of commuters: The MRT-LRT loop will begin operations mid-March. Now this should make traveling around Metro Manila a bit easier and more bearable.
The P7.6-billion project, dubbed "closing the loop," connects the MRT North Avenue Station on EDSA to the LRT Monumento Station in Caloocan. As a joint venture between DM Consunji Inc. and First Balfour Inc., the loop will add three new stations to the grid once completed. Only the Balintawak station, however, will be operational by next month.
No less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated the project as part of the 24th anniversary celebration of the first People Power. She even took a train ride from North Avenue in Quezon City to Monumento in Caloocan City showing us that, hey, even the nation's top honcho rides the train.
A new ticketing system using contactless cards similar to the Octopus card in Hong Kong will also be introduced hopefully before GMA's term ends this June.
Via Inquirer.net and philstar.com
Image via Inquirer.net