№ 506. Economic Recovery During & After the Pandemic: Subways

Wikipedia says, "the London Underground (also known simply as the Underground, or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. Opened in January 1863, it is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2017/18 carried 1.357 billion passengers, making it the world's 12th busiest metro system. The 11 lines collectively handle up to 5 million passengers a day."

The first subway opened in 1863 London. 

It's now 2020. That's 157 years since that landmark urban infrastructure was built. Subway is an essential feature of all modern cities. Metro Manila's first subway system is still a work in progress. I hope they finish it quickly and build more connected networks underground.

Transportation officials are one step closer to constructing the 17-station Metro Manila Subway Project, as the first of the six Japan-made tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be shipped to the country in January 2021.

Measuring 6.99 meters in diameter and 95 meters in length, the 700-ton TBMs will be used to dig underground and lay the tunnels for the 34-kilometer project, spanning Barangay Ugong in Valenzuela City and Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City.

The first-ever subway in the country is expected to partially operate in 2022 and serve 370,000 passengers daily in its first year.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) hopes all stations will be fully operational by 2026, with a design capacity of 1.5 million passengers per day.

The Metro Manila Subway is designed to connect with other urban rail transit services in the region. Riders may transfer to LRT Line 1, MRT Line 3, and MRT Line 7 at the North Avenue Common station, which is also currently under construction. Other connections include the existing LRT Line 2 and PNR Metro Commuter Line, as well as the planned Makati Intra-city Subway and MRT Line 8. 

 

Please build more. Then connect them into a logical, convenient network of transportation.

№ 374. Retiro X

Chungking Express Art

She lip-reads her swift murders,
In urban-drenched neon monologues,
Fractured day dream sequences.

She sketches boarding passes on a tissue paper
Later thrown away, unread,
Melting in the midnight monsoon.

She sleepwalks in vindaloo alleys,
Concealed and armed by wigs and stilettos,
Tipsy with chaos, solitary and morbid deadlines.

Like the poisoned city she breathes,
She is livid, resigned and, cruel.

№ 78. Sacraments

There are many sacrifices I have to endure in Manila. 

 

Pasig

One daily grinding thorn is commuting--- either by public transportation or private car. Long lines, traffic, heat, pollution, noise and all urban blight seem to converge like LDL or bad cholesterol in the arteries of the city.

It helps that someone---yes, a priest---had the vision to write about the art, he calls it "sacrament", of waiting.

That dirty word, again. "Sacrament" has been so burdened with all layers of Catholic meanings for me that it's become almost sinister. I hesitate to use it.

But, admittedly, he nailed the insights in the experience and wrote damn well about it. So I must share the space with those nuggets about the art (for us secular folks) of waiting.

"Waiting is a mystery - a natural sacrament of life - there is a meaning hidden in all the times we have to wait. It must be an important mystery because there is so much waiting in our lives. 

 

Everyday is filled with those little moments of waiting (testing our patience and our nerves, schooling us in self-control). We wait for meals to be served, for a letter to arrive, for a friend to call or show up for a date. We wait in line at cinemas and theaters, concerts and circuses. Our airline terminals, railway stations and bus depots are great temples of waiting filled with men and women who wait in joy for the arrival of a loved one - or wait in sadness to say goodbye and give the last wave of hand. We wait for springs to come - or autumn - for the rains to begin and stop. And we wait for ourselves to grow from childhood to maturity. We wait for those inner voices that tell us when we are ready for the next stop." (Son of the Prodigal).

№ 28. Manila Extract (after Ondoy)

Design Anthology

You are dense.
An equation of salty noodles 
steaming in my cup.


You are stained.
A peppered whisper
left by the ketchup on my lips.


You are Manila.
A name seasoned by monsoons
stirring needles in my gut.