The Department of Transportation is looking into the viability of extending either the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 or the North-South Commuter Railway to more towns in Bulacan to help ease the transportation woes of commuters in those areas.
During the public hearing of the House Committee on Transportation, DoTr Undersecretary for Railways Cesar Chavez said there are three ways that the Bulacan towns can be connected to a railway system.
Chavez was responding to the recommendation of Bulacan 6th District Representative Salvador Pleyto to connect his district — consisting of municipalities of Norzagaray, Angat, and Santa Maria — to a rail network.
“We can ask the developer of MRT-7 to extend its project from San Jose del Monte to Balagtas passing through your areas — Norzagaray and Sta Maria. We can also ask for another study from the North-South Commuter Railway to connect your areas, which are also recognized as densely populated, to their project,” Chavez said.
The transportation official also noted that connecting Bulacan to a train network in the metropolitan area can be done through public-private partnerships.
However, of the three options he mentioned, Chavez pointed out that the more realistic option to connect the Bulacan towns to a railway system is to extend the MRT-7 from San Jose del Monte to Norzagaray and Santa Maria.