Tutuban Center All Set to Become Transfer Station for North-South Railway Project
Makati—(PHStocks)—In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on 1 April between the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the Philippine National Railways (PNR), and Tutuban Properties Inc. (TPI), the developer and operator of Tutuban Center in Divisoria, all parties agreed to cooperate in the finalization and completion of the plans of the North-South Railway Project (NSFP) ofthe DOTC within a period of six months.
The NSRP involves the construction of the North Line (Phase 1), a 3-kilometer elvated commuter railway from Malolos, Bulacan to Tutuban, Manila, and a South Line (Phase 2), a 653-kilometer railway from Tutuban, Manila to Legazpi City, Albay. The NSRP Transfer Station will be located at Tutuban Center which will put it in the forefront of this massive railway transport project of the government.
This development cannot come at a more perfect time with Tutuban Center’s mother company, Prime Orion Philippines Inc. (PSE: POPI), that recently celebrated its 25th year of being publicly-listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), baring their plan to purse the expansion in the leasable space of Tutuban Center. In a statement made by Yuen Po Seng, president and chief executive officer of Prime Orion, in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), around 40,000sqm of leasable space will be added to Tutuban Center in the next two to three years from its current 60,000sqm leasable space.
Further, the LRT Line 2 west extension will also be extended up to the Manila port area, and will have one of its major stations right in front of Tutuban Center. The LRT Line 2 Station will then interconnect with the NSRP Transfer Station and Tutuban Center. This will facilitate the hansfer of passengers from the NSRP to the LRT Line 2 and vice versa. Based on initial studies made for the NSRP, the interconnection is expected to bring in additional 400,000 foot traffic per day to Tutuban Center’s area.
Aside from TPI, Prime Orion is also the listed firm behind Orion Property Developmnent Inc., FLT Prime Insurance Corp., Orion Maxis Inc., and Orion Solutions Inc.
