DOTr to cancel contract for common rail station

MANILA, Philippines â Commuters may have to wait longer before they can switch seamlessly through Metro Manilaâs rail lines, as the government is terminating the contract for the Unified Grand Central Station.

Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon yesterday said his agency is pulling out of the contract that it entered into with the joint venture of BF Corp. and Foresight Development and Surveying Co. (FDSC) for the construction of the Unified Grand Central Station.

The project has been hit with several delays, and Dizon said there was no progress in construction for more than a year now.

Thus, Dizon ordered the legal team of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to evaluate how it can withdraw from the agreement. He said cancelling the contract would pave the way for the DOTr to find a new contractor that can finish the project.

âThe delay is unacceptable. This project should by now have been completed and it should have been benefitting commuters already,â Dizon said.

The DOTr will seek remedies from the New Government Procurement Act or the Public-Private Partnership Code to expedite the search for a replacement.

Dizon believes that the government has to penalize BF Corp. and FDSC for their failure to deliver the infrastructure on time.

Further, Dizon will check the payments made by the DOTr to the joint venture to see whether the government has any pending obligations for the Unified Grand Central Station.

According to the transport chief, it is urgent to build the Unified Grand Central Station as soon as possible to provide commuters ease of transfer. The project, once completed, will link the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1), Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) and, soon, MRT-7.

The Unified Grand Central Station is situated along North Avenue where the LRT-1, MRT-3 and MRT-7 are close enough to meet. It features a concourse spanning 13,700 square meters, and has an intermodal transport system below for commuters taking the bus or jeep.

The project, costing P2.8 billion, began construction in 2017 under then transportation secretary Arthur Tugade, who Dizon worked with under the Duterte administration.

Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2025/03/07/2426408/dotr-cancel-contract-common-rail-station

BY Elijah Felice Rosales - The Philippine Star