Background Early proposals and studies The idea of building a subway in the
Greater Manila Area had been forwarded as early as 1973, when the JICA (at the time known as the Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency or OTCA) and former
Secretary of Public Works and Highways David Consunji conducted a study on what shall later be
Metro Manila (formally constituted on November 7, 1975). The 1973 plan was known as the Urban Transport Study in Manila Metropolitan Area (UTSMMA). The 1973 plan provided for the construction of five
heavy rail subway lines in Metro Manila. The first line (Line 1) would have a length of , running from Constitution Hills (now
Batasan Hills), Quezon City to Talon,
Las Piñas. The second line (Line 2), meanwhile, would be long from
Novaliches, Quezon City to
Cainta,
Rizal, while Line 3 for throughout
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. The fourth line (Line 4) would have been long from
Marikina to Zapote,
Bacoor, and the fifth line would have a length of from
Rizal Avenue,
Manila to
Meycauayan,
Bulacan. The plan would have resolved the traffic problems of Metro Manila and would have taken 15 years to complete, or until 1988. In 1976, JICA conducted a feasibility study of the line, known as Rapid Transit Railway (RTR) Line 1. The study proposed a tentative route from Manila International Airport (MIA), now
Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), to the
University of the Philippines in Quezon City, totaling . With the planned completion dates between 1983 and 2000 for that line with four stages, the other lines would have been constructed as part of the RTR network: Line 2 would connect Novaliches in Quezon City to Guadalupe,
Makati; Line 3 would connect
Malabon to
Roxas Boulevard in Pasay; Line 4 would connect
Baclaran in Parañaque to Cubao in Quezon City; and Line 5 would connect
Binondo to Marulas in Valenzuela. Also, Pacific Consultants International and the Japan Overseas Consultants participated as a study team. According to some critics of the
LRT Line 1 that was built instead of the RTR Line 1, Marcos decided against the subway after being convinced by his advisers that the line could not be completed before Singapore finished its
own first line. It was also proposed to be part of the 1977 Metro Manila Transport, Land Use and Development Planning Project (MMETROPLAN), which was funded by the
World Bank. However, the plan was not included and implemented, for some of the areas included in the plan, such as
Marikina and
Cainta, are prone to flooding.
Proposals in the 1990s and 2000s In 1995, the Mexican firm Grupo ICA, which also constructed the
Mexico City Metro, was in talks with the
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to build a subway in the Philippines. In 1998, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC, later DOTr) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with JK International Ltd. to conduct a feasibility study of a subway project; a route would have been linked between
Port of Manila and NAIA. In 2001, Italian firms Grandi Lavori Fincosit and Societa Esecuzione Lavori Idraulici signed an agreement with the DOTC, for a MOU. The tunnel section of the subway would connect
Bonifacio Global City (BGC), going through EDSA and connecting the
Ortigas,
Greenhills, and
Shaw Boulevard commercial centers. However, when former President
Joseph Estrada resigned from office in the same year, the project never materialized.
Planning in the 2010s The project was proposed once more in the 2014
Metro Manila Dream Plan as a line that would serve as the second north–south mass transit backbone for the newly expanded
Greater Capital Region (the first being the
North–South Commuter Railway). The Metro Manila Dream Plan (formally titled the
Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and Its Surrounding Areas) is an integrated plan based on recommendations from a study conducted by the
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It was approved by the
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board in June 2014, to last until 2030. The program aims to improve the transport system in Metro Manila with the hope of turning it into a focal point for addressing Metro Manila's interlinked problems in the areas of transportation, land use, and environment. In September of that year, British subway contractor
Arup presented its profile to the DOTC in case the agency decides to build a subway system in Metro Manila, an official of the
Makati Business Club said. Applied Planning & Infrastructure Inc., in association with MKL Associates, proposed a version of the subway plan and conducted a
business case as a private initiative for the project known as the Manila Central Subway. They lay out the definite alignment of the first , approximate the next 150 km, and guess the last ; the first 150 km are to be further subdivided into workable segments of each. Locate optimal sites for subway stations and determine their basic requirements at least for the first 150 km; hire top-level consultants to prepare detailed engineering designs for the initial 150 km of tubes and various stations, optimal performance standards, environmental impact, economic and social benefits, value for money, and geotechnical and other technical analyses. The proposed lines are: the red line would run from
North Triangle Common Station to
Mall of Asia, while the extensions would lead to
Tutuban and
Taft Avenue MRT station; the brown line would connect
NLEX in Valenzuela to
FTI (using the same alignment as MMS Phase 1), and the extension would lead to
Alabang; the blue line express would run along between the two lines; and finally, the green line would connect from
Manila Bay to Tikling Junction, while the extensions would lead to
Taytay and Holy Spirit, Quezon City. A year later, JICA published an information collection survey for the project, and the subway was to have of route from
Caloocan to
Dasmarinas,
Cavite, and the C4 route is the most suitable option. Meanwhile, the first phase is from
Mindanao Avenue and
Quirino Highway in Quezon City to FTI in Taguig; Phase 2 leads to
Bagong Silang, Caloocan, up north; and
Governor's Drive, Dasmarinas, is . Also, the intermodal terminal building was to be located at
Market! Market! in BGC and to cater buses, jeepneys, and taxis at this terminal.
Development In 2015, the
National Economic and Development Authority approved the construction of the Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit System Loop Line 5 (MTSL Line 5), which would have been a underground railway from BGC to
Taft Avenue, as identified in the JICA study. Despite the fact that the route is long, it passes through the central business districts. The project was to be funded through the public-private partnership scheme, but after former President
Benigno Aquino III stepped down from office, the project stalled and was revived again by his successor,
Rodrigo Duterte. In January 2017, JICA was keen on developing a MTSL project, and in the same year, the Metro Manila Subway (then known as the Mega Manila Subway) was launched and included in the
administration's Build! Build! Build! program. In August of that year, JICA published the preparatory survey for the project, which means the alignment would have run from Quirino Highway to FTI along
C-5. The alignment did not have a route to NAIA before it was revised. On March 16, 2018, the Philippine and Japanese governments signed a loan agreement for the subway. The first
tranche of the
official development assistance from JICA amounted to ¥104.5 billion (). In June 2018,
soil testing was conducted along the alignment. In the same month, the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) decided that the subway would not pass along the fault line because the
West Valley Fault passes along C-5 road in Taguig. The following November, OC Global, a Japanese consortium consisting of Oriental Consultants Global Co. Ltd.,
Tokyo Metro Co. Ltd., Katahira & Engineers International, Pacific Consultants Co Ltd., Tonichi Engineering Consultants, Inc., and Metro Development Co. Ltd., was appointed as the project consultant.
Construction The Metro Manila Subway broke ground on February 27, 2019. Ten months later, construction begun its clearing phase in
Valenzuela on December 21. As part of the initial partial operability section (the
Qurino Highway, the
Tandang Sora, and the
North Avenue stations), the first three stations will be built alongside the
Philippine Railways Institute (PRI), the country's first-ever railway training center. The first of 25 tunnel boring machines that will be used for the subway's construction was unveiled on February 5, 2021. On November 11, 2021, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at
Camp Aguinaldo to mark the start of pre-construction activities at the
Camp Aguinaldo station. Meanwhile, the Ortigas and Shaw stations broke ground on October 3, 2022. Work on the Katipunan and Anonas stations began on February 13, 2023. The underground and tunnel boring works for the subway were slated to start by the fourth quarter of 2021, but was delayed. The first tunnel boring machine was ceremonially lowered on June 12, 2022, while underground tunnel works began on January 9, 2023. The line was originally slated to begin partial operations by 2022. However, in April 2022, the DOTr delayed this to 2025, with full operations by 2027, as the
COVID-19 pandemic hindered construction. Challenges related to right of way acquisition have hindered construction progress, An interagency committee for the two railway projects was established to address issues with the project's alignment. However, during the administration of
Bongbong Marcos, it was revealed that these projects, including the subway, were unlikely to be completed by the end of his term in 2028 due to right of way issues. ==Route==