Tollways expansion hinges on new rail projects - MPTC

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December 8, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The tollways arm of the Metro Pacific Group is stepping on the brakes on its plan to build an elevated road on the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), concerned that the completion of new rails would reduce traffic in the next decade.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is planning its roadmap ahead for NLEX to mitigate traffic congestion in the segment between Balintawak and Marilao, Bulacan.

MPTC president and CEO Gilbert Santa Maria said the company is looking at building an elevated tollway called NLEX Air to provide an alternative, but costlier, thoroughfare for motorists.

Initial estimates obtained by The STAR in 2024 showed that putting up NLEX Air, spanning the Balintawak Toll Plaza and Tambubong Interchange, could cost up to P70 billion. As such, MPTC is studying if the projected revenue from NLEX Air could cover the cost of constructing it.

Likewise, Santa Maria said MPTC expects hundreds of thousands of motorists to drop their private cars as their main mode of mobility by early 2030s. This is the time when three railways should be up and running to connect the north and south of Mega Manila.

Santa Maria said the impending completion of the P873.6-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), P488.5-billion Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) and the P68.2-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) would play into MPTC’s decision on NLEX Air.

MRT-7 is scheduled for partial operations by 2027, while the NSCR and MMSP are lined up for completion by the first half of the next decade.

“We are going to examine NLEX Air now because there are three rail systems entering by 2034. In the planning horizon of tollways, that is well within our concession period. Once those three railways [are operational], they are going to serve half a million every day,” Santa Maria said.

“From that half a million number, we can assume at least 100,000 used to drive. That has a huge impact on tolls, so we are trying to figure out what the optimal alignment is that would maximize our developments for the future without crippling us financially,” he added.

MPTC is currently dealing with a net debt of about P200 billion, and Santa Maria is focused on reducing this to clean up the company’s balance sheet. Last week, it received P20 billion from its maiden sale of bonds.

Still, MPTC wants to find a way, with or without NLEX Air, to expand NLEX to provide a wider space for motorists and reduce vehicle congestion in the tollway.

As of 2024, NLEX was the busiest Philippine project on MPTC’s network, with over 350,000 vehicles using it every day.