Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said in Manila on 30 June 2014 that the government is looking at two options wherein the system would pass either through the 26th St. or 32nd St. inside the Bonifacio Global City.

If it passes through the 26th St., the stations would include Market-Market, McKinley Parkway, 5th Ave., Ayala/EDSA, Ayala Triangle, Makati Post Office, PNR Buendia, Buendia/Taft Ave., World Trade Center, Mall of Asia, and EDSA/Taft Ave.

On the other hand, if the system terminates in 32nd St., the stations include Market-Market, St. Lukes Medical Center, MRT3 Buendia Station, Ayala/EDSA, Ayala/EDSA, Ayala Triangle, Makati Post Office, PNR Buendia, Buendia/Taft Ave., World Trade Center, Mall of Asia, EDSA/Taft Ave.

The rail system would address the growing concern of traffic congestion in the fast growing urban centers in the cities of Makati, Pasay, and Taguig.

It aims to improve inter-city linkage by providing a higher capacity public transportation system that would facilitate fast and convenient mobility of goods and services. The mass transit project also intends to address the high volume of vehicular traffic traversing in these major business districts of Metro Manila.

The proposed 20km loop would consist of 16km tunnel and 4km elevated railway especially in the reclaimed area in Pasay City. The project would consist of 11 stations consisting of five underground, four interchanges and two elevated.

The DOTC earlier said it may seek project approval from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in the second or third quarter of the year, after which the government will bid out the project in the second quarter of 2015.

Given Metro Manila’s current infrastructure, it was also determined that the rail line of approximately 12km would need to run mostly underground, making this the first subway in the country.

The government is looking at increasing urban mass transport ridership to 2.2 million per day by 2016 or 2017 from the current level of 1.2 million per day under the government’s Rail Transport Development Plan.

The DOTC would develop inter-modal facilities and at the same time improve transport linkages and efficiency to production and consumption markets.