Metro Cebu risks “an economic gridlock” if it fails to quickly put up a commuter train system amid deteriorating road congestion, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas warned on Sunday.
“Metro Cebu needed a passenger train system 20 years ago.
That is how far behind we are now,” Gullas, former Cebu provincial governor, said.
“Trains remain the fastest way for us to move the greatest number of people over both short and long distances,” Gullas pointed out.
Gullas said he supports Udenna Infrastructure Corp.’s unsolicited proposal to build, transfer, operate and maintain a P78.9-billion monorail transit system for Metro Cebu.
“If nobody wants to build a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system for Metro Cebu, as we first proposed way back in 1996, then by all means let us have Udenna’s monorail,” Gullas said.
Gullas is counting on the National Economic Development Authority to act fast on Udenna’s offer, which is still under evaluation. Udenna plans to build two lines for the monorail: a 17-kilometer central line from Talisay City to Cebu City; and a 9-kilometer line from the Mactan Cebu International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City to Cebu City.
The two lines would have an interchange in Cebu City. Once awarded, the monorail project, which already enjoys original proponent status,would be completed in four years.
Gullas is author of a long-pending bill that seeks to mandate the Department of Transportation to prepare and execute a plan to establish and operate an elevated Metro Cebu LRT System.
The fastest-growing urban center outside Metro Manila, Metro Cebu groups the seven cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Danao, Talisay, Naga and Carcar, plus the six municipalities of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela, Cordova, Minglanilla and San Fernando.
