THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said it has embarked on a feasibility study for a new subway project in Cebu.
“We are conducting an assessment to determine demand and a ridership forecast for the Cebu subway,” Transportation Undersecretary for Planning and Project Development Timothy John R. Batan said on Radyo Pilipinas.
The plan to construct an underground rail line in Cebu was first put forward in 2024, Mr. Batan said, adding that the project was designed to help decongest the road network in Metro Cebu.
“The limited roads in (Cebu) make it harder to expand the road network. While there is room for road-based transport like the BRT (bus rapid transit) system and jeepneys, once we reach this kind of situation… the only solution is to build a rail or train system,” he said.
Unlike Metro Manila, Metro Cebu does not have long stretches of wide roads, Mr. Batan said, noting that constructing an elevated rail line is not feasible and might result in a curvy rail alignment.
“When we looked at Cebu, it does not have a long and wide road to construct an elevated rail line,” he said. “The plan is just to construct a subway.”
The country’s first subway in Metro Manila is under construction and is expected to be fully operational between 2030 and 2031, slipping from the initial target of 2029. The DoTr said that the Metro Manila Subway is currently deemed 50% complete.
“We hope the local government will be directly involved in the project,” Mr. Batan said.
According to Cebu’s master plan, the Metro Cebu subway will run for 67.5 kilometers between Danao City and Carcar City.
According to the Cebu Provincial Government website, its Economic Enterprise Council is proposing to execute the project as a public-private partnership (PPP).
Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on PPP at the technical advisory group Libra Konsult, Inc., said underground transport infrastructure is more difficult and expensive to construct.
He said the possibility of an elevated rail line should still be considered rather than resorting to underground rail line right away.
“There will be places where elevated structures might be difficult or even impossible, in which case, we need to go underground… Within Metro Cebu, we may have to go a mix of elevated and underground or fully one or the other,” he said.
“Any proposal for a Cebu subway needs further study, particularly a technical, demand and feasibility study, as this appears to be a province-wide rail line,” Terry L. Ridon, convenor of think tank InfraWatch, said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
