THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board has ended months of speculation by deciding to locate the controversial Metro Manila Integrated Rail Terminal (MMIRT), or Central Terminal, at the SM North Edsa Annex.

The Neda Board, chaired by President Arroyo, has confirmed the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) approval of the MMIRT. Sources said the total project cost of the MMIRT will now be around P778 million.

This includes around P578 million that the government will shell out from the 2009 budget and P200 million that the SM Group agreed to contribute to build the station.

The station will be named SM-TriNoma in recognition of the contribution of the SM Group for the project and the commitment of the Ayala Group, which operates TriNoma Mall, to construct a pedestrian walkway from TriNoma to SM.

Light Rail Transit Administrator Melquiades Robles briefed reporters late Tuesday, after the Neda Board  approved the construction of the MMIRT. Robles said the target date for the commercial operation of the common station for LRT 1 and MRT 3 is in February 2010.

“This is very important because all three systems, including the future line 7, will converge in one station, [facilitating] a seamless transfer from one line to another, having a common concourse above,” said Robles.

He added the LRTA has also made a provision for LRT 1 to run through LRT 3 “so in the future when Line 3 comes under complete government control, then it will be very easy to run a train from Baclaran all the way through the entire stretch of Edsa and if we extend to Cavite, that entire stretch.”

Robles said their target is for the common station, to be constructed in front of the SM North Annex, to serve the three lines by June.

Sources said on Wednesday LRTA assured the President that it will be able to finish the MMIRT and the LRT Line 1 North Extension by December 2009.

Earlier, the national government was considering an alternative location for the Central Terminal even after the project had been approved by the ICC Cabinet Committee (CabCom) and poised to be discussed at the Neda Board.

The new proposal, received by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), proposes to set up the joint terminal at the empty National Housing Authority (NHA) property near Trinoma.

Neda Director General Ralph Recto said Vice President Noli de Castro pitched the NHA property. Following this proposal, Ayala Land asked for a meeting with Recto. However, Recto said Ayala Land did not indicate whether it was willing to spend for a portion of the project. Initially, because the MMIRT was going to be located at SM Annex, the government was eyeing to have a portion of the cost of the station shouldered by SM, which signaled a willingness to finance a portion of the cost.

The ICC CabCom-approved estimated additional cost for the MMIRT of P777.598 million already consists of additional costs due to the ongoing LRT Line 1 North Extension and the MRT 3. Initially, the estimated total cost of the project is P1.558 billion.

However, documents show that due to the deductive costs from the LRT 1 North Extension worth P780.084 million, the entire additional cost is estimated at P777.598 million.

The additional cost will increase the total project cost to P7.387 billion—a 12.3-percent increase over the 2007 ICC approval of P6.323 billion. The project now has an economic internal rate of return of 18.39 percent and a net present value (NPV) of P1.105 million at a 15 percent discount rate. (With M. Gonzalez)