The Philippine Department of Transportation (DOTr) has accelerated land acquisition works for the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) and the North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR) system to speed up major railway projects. As of December 2025, 90.76 per cent of right-of-way (ROW) and required properties for the projects have been acquired, while around 56 per cent of land for the NSCR north segment has been cleared for construction.
For the NSCR north segment, the number of acquired land parcels increased from 38 in February 2025 to 1,143 by December 2025. The DOTr expects full ROW acquisition for this section by mid-2026. In the NSCR south segment, ROW clearance has been completed for four of the 19 planned stations, including EDSA, Cabuyao, Sta. Rosa in Laguna, and the Banlic depot.
The MMSP is a 33 km underground rail line connecting Valenzuela City to Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, reducing end-to-end travel time from around two hours and 30 minutes to about 40 minutes. The NSCR system is designed to provide a high-capacity commuter rail backbone linking Central Luzon, Metro Manila, and Calabarzon. The government is targeting the inauguration of the Metro Manila Subway by 2028, with the two projects expected to serve hundreds of thousands of daily commuters and significantly ease urban congestion.
