President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 station of the P488.48 billion Metro Manila Subway Project, marking a key milestone for the country’s first underground railway.

The ceremony launched Contract Package 109, a P-funded 2.413-kilometer segment covering the underground NAIA Terminal 3 station and connecting tunnels between Taguig and Pasay.

Construction is scheduled to start in October beneath the terminal’s open parking area.

“Our people need a public transport system that gives them a real alternative, one that is efficient, dependable, and connected to the places where they live, work, study, and travel,” Marcos said during the ceremony.

“We cannot address congestion through road works alone. The modernization of our railway system remains a priority of this administration,” he added.

Once the full 33.103-kilometer subway network opens in the third quarter of 2031, travel time between Valenzuela and NAIA Terminal 3 will drop from more than 90 minutes to roughly 40 minutes, while trips from Quezon City to the airport will take about 35 minutes.

Meantime, Senate Committee on Finance chairperson Senator JV Ejercito, who attended the event, pledged to secure necessary government counterpart funding in programmed appropriations to prevent project delays and avoid paying commitment fees on unutilized foreign loans.

“Under my leadership as Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, I will make sure that there will be no more delays, and that our obligations will be met, especially for the North-South Commuter Railway and the Metro Manila Subway System,” Ejercito said.

The lawmaker from San Juan said the government should avoid a repeat of previous delays when project obligations were lodged under unprogrammed funds.

“I will make sure that foreign-assisted projects and the government participation, and the GOP will be now in the programmed appropriations and it will be prioritized,” he said.

The completed subway line will feature 30 eight-car trainsets capable of carrying up to 2,228 passengers per trip at operational speeds reaching 80 kilometers per hour.