MANILA-BASED transportation company Philtram, under Maglev Vision Corporation, is set to present to the Davao City Council sometime this month a proposal for the construction of a monorail system.
Philtram Chief Operating Officer and spokesperson Jose Guardo Jr. said, during Monday's Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao Annex, they will present the project to the City Council for review and approval.
Guardo said the entire plan will be composed of four phases with each phase not exceeding 20 kilometers, with the first phase at only around 14 kilometers. The group estimates a P2 billion cost per kilometer including the construction of specific stations and posts.
The first phase will cover SM Lanang to Southern Philippine Medical Center going towards Abreeza until Roxas.
Eduard Geguerra of Philtram also added part of their proposal is to put up a central station near Aldevinco which will be called Duterte Central Station which will connect the first phase with the second phase.
The second phase will be from the proposed Duterte Central Station going to Quezon Boulevard towards Magsaysay and near Agdao flyover.
The monorail coaches will be manufactured in China by the state-owned companies China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, which manufactures the unit, and the China Railway Engineering Corporation, which is in-charge of the railway construction.
Guardo said an estimated P4-million budget will be allotted for a four month long business case after Philtram’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) will be approved by the city. Then another P7 million to P8 million will be used for a detailed feasibility study that will last for 8 months.
He said they have already talked with Ivan Cortez of the Davao City Planning and Development Office last December 2016 and they were advised to submit a MOU before they can conduct a feasibility study.
The studies will show the feasibility of Davao City to accommodate such a monorail system and also the amount of passengers that the city can provide including the willingness of these passengers to pay.
Within the week, the group hopes to have the final draft of the MOU be submitted to the city for review and approval.
The fare is estimated to be P10 standard rate and P1 per additional kilometer.
Philtram also proposes air-conditioned “mini-malls” with free wifi to be put up per station which can also function as a tourist destination.
Through this, the monorail will not have to be dependent solely on the income generated from the commuter’s fare.
The group added part of their proposal is to negotiate with mall owners to partner with them and to shoulder the construction of some specific stations that might be put up alongside their malls so that the cost will not be solely shouldered by the commuters. These stations will be named after these malls.
The monorails will have eight coaches with a capacity of around 125 passengers per coach or around a thousand passengers for all eight coaches.
Philtram proposes the monorail will be designed with cargo and logistics operations as it has a capacity of 700 kilograms to 1 ton per square meter. Guardo said they proposed the cargo operations to be done at night after the rush hour when there are lesser commuters.
“We just want to maximize the efficiency of our system. At least, the cost will be subsidized by the cargo and the logistics. The income will be much higher with the cargo and logistics as part of the equation. We can have the train go near the airport, port areas, and even processing zones and mall,” Guardo said.
