The Metro Manila Subway Project has reached a major construction milestone after its first tunnel boring machine completed a breakthrough between the Quezon Avenue and North Avenue stations, marking a key step in building the country’s first underground railway system.
The breakthrough was achieved after excavation reached the southbound section of the North Avenue station from the Quezon Avenue station, covering about 1.1 kilometers of underground tunneling at a depth of 34 meters below ground. A tunnel boring machine breakthrough happens when the machine completes excavation and breaks through the final wall of the tunnel section it is creating.
The government is targeting completion of the subway system by the last quarter of 2031. Once fully operational, the railway is expected to serve hundreds of thousands of passengers daily and provide commuters with another major transport option connecting northern and southern parts of Metro Manila.
Tunnel boring operations will continue as construction moves forward toward connecting more sections of the 33-kilometer railway line, which is designed to run from East Valenzuela to Bicutan in Taguig City with 17 stations.
The Metro Manila Subway is expected to provide a faster alternative for commuters traveling across the capital region, where long travel times and road congestion have remained major transportation challenges. Once operational, the subway is projected to reduce travel time from Valenzuela City to Manila International Airport Terminal 3 from around 1.5 hours to about 41 minutes.
“Once this is completed, the people living here will be very fortunate because they will have a subway; they will have the MRT. They will have many ways to get around the metro,” President Bongbong Marcos said during the inspection of the tunnel breakthrough.
The ₱488.48-billion Metro Manila Subway Project is financed through loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and forms part of the government’s effort to expand the country’s railway network and improve public transportation capacity in Metro Manila.
