The Quezon City section of the new MRT-7 line is expected to be up and running by the fourth quarter of next year, according to Transportation assistant secretary for railways Jorjette Aquino.

The Department of Transportation official unveiled the news during a Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas briefing. “We will have partial operations of 12 stations by the end of 2025, and we expect that the next station—Station 13 (Tala Station)—will be operational by the end of 2026,” she said.

Following the opening of the Tala Station in Caloocan City, the San Jose del Monte Station in Bulacan is expected to be finished in 2027, once “alignment issues” have been resolved, according to Aquino. These issues refer to the route of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 and right-of-way issues in Bulacan that emerged while the project was already underway.

According to the DOTr, local government officials from SJDM asked for the Bulacan section to be realigned, claiming the original route was “too tight” and was affecting several buildings in the area. Aquino mentioned that the department was already working with the SJDM LGU on this.

“Our dialogue with San Jose del Monte is currently ongoing,” she shared. “We are scheduling for an inspection this June with DOTr, San Miguel Corporation, and SJDM LGU to see their proposed alignment and station location. If our talks with the LGU continue and we finalize the alignment that’s beneficial to passengers, we expect its completion by 2027.”

Once finished, MRT-7 will be 22km long and have 14 stations along its route that will connect Quezon City and San Jose del Monte, reducing the travel time between the NCR and Bulacan to just 35 minutes.