Monorail, BRT projects can coexist, says exec

PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY

Part of the alignment of the proposed monorail project in Cebu will be merging with the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

These are shown in the results of the project’s pre-feasibility study.

Philtram Transportation Consortium, Inc., proponent of the project, assured that the monorail could operate together with the BRT.

“We can coexist with the BRT. The monorail is elevated and the diameter of the posts is only 1.2 meters,” said Philtram Chief Operating Officer Jose Guardo Jr. in a press conference yesterday.

The monorail system will be located 5.5 meters above the road and will be fully automated, which means it won’t have any drivers. There are emergency catwalks though in case there are problems with the trains.

Based on the pre-feasibility study results, which was conducted by Systra, the “economically viable” route for the monorail will be starting at the South Road Properties (SRP), going to N. Bacalso Ave. to S. Osmeña road all the way north to Mandaue City.

The 16-kilometer route will pass through different establishments like City di Mare, the proposed development in the Kawit Property and SM Seaside City, all in the SRP, the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U), Cebu South Bus Terminal, Robinsons Galleria Cebu, SM City Cebu, Parkmall, and Pacific Mall, among others.

There will be 16 to 17 stations along the route which will be placed between 600 meters to one kilometer from each other.

The area where the monorail will converge with the BRT will start near the CIT-U station all the way to the corner of Osmeña Blvd., where the BRT will turn left while the monorail will go straight to P. Del Rosario St.

The study by Systra was conducted from July to September this year. But the full ridership report will still be available three weeks from now.

In yesterday’s press conference, Chinese engineers were also present. They will be validating the results of the Systra’s study.

The proposed monorail will have six coaches which can carry up to 750 passengers. Guardo also assured that the train intervals will only be 90 seconds even during peak hours and that it can run for up to 80 kilometers per hour.

“Since this is a monorail, it will not be noisy. It can easily pass through buildings like malls or convention centers. We are advocating for rail-oriented development,” Guardo said.

Initial costs for the project was pegged by Bombardier Transportation, the train provider of the project, at US$27 to 35 million per kilometer.

While there are still no final plans as to how the project will be implemented, Guardo said they are eyeing to have it through a hybrid public-private partnership (PPP) with the government or through a joint venture agreement with the local governments.

Once they get all approvals, he said construction can be done within two years, which means it can be operational by 2021 since the detailed engineering design study will still be done in 2018.

Guardo explained that they have not yet finalized the mode of implementation of the project since it is still being studied by their economic and legal teams, but he said they hope to get national government subsidy on the project in order to ensure that fare rates are affordable for the masses.

“This project should be a venture between government and the private sector. We wish the government to open up. But if not, the fare will be more expensive,” he said. /With Correspondent Morexette Marie B. Erram