Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 3) — The Baguio City government said it is exploring alternative transport systems to ease road congestion in the prime tourist spot, with an inter-province cable car line and a train system among its options.
In a statement, the city said it is in talks with the Department of Transportation to possibly set up a cable car system that would link Baguio with the town of Pugo in La Union. The two areas are roughly an hour’s drive away, spanning about 32 kilometers.
The city hall said Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade offered a deal to build the cable car line, an idea first studied in 2016 through a ₱26-million grant from the French government.
In Metro Manila, urban planners have also recommended mass cable car structures to link the LRT-2 Santolan Station in Marikina to the Ortigas business district in Pasig, with the overhead system traversing the Marikina River.
Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong also said that the DOTr is willing to help the city should it decide to build a monorail that would link the summer capital to La Trinidad in Benguet, an area known for strawberry fields.
A pre-feasibility study showed the project could cost up to ₱6.7 billion. This is split into a 5.2-km automated gateway transit line from the provincial capitol to the Slaughterhouse compound in Baguio worth ₱3.8 billion, and another 2.1-km segment from the Bonifacio rotunda to SM City Baguio, priced at ₱2.9 billion.
The train plan has been on the table since 2017.
