NEWS

By: Lorenz S. Marasigan

Following the signing of the deal for the construction of the first portion of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project on Monday, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is preparing for the acquisition of new rolling stocks to serve the future train line that will connect Clark and Calamba in just two hours.

Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John R. Batan said there will be three packages for the acquisition of new trains for the proposed commuter railway system.

The first one, which is already on its way, is for the Tutuban-Malolos alignment. It will consist of 13 train sets with eight cars each. This is expected to be awarded to Sumitomo Corp. and JR East Railway of Japan sometime in the next two months.

The second package, on the other hand, involves the supply of 38 train sets in eight-car configuration, which will be used for the Malolos-Clark alignment. The publication of the invitation to bid for this is scheduled for the third quarter of the year.

The third package is for the supply of seven express train sets with eight cars each to serve the airport line. In total, the future commuter line will have a rolling stock portfolio of 58 train sets, or a total of 464 cars.

“The beauty of it is that because the system is interoperable, the first trains can run all the way to Clark and all the way to Calamba,” Batan said.

Envisioned as a 147-kilometer elevated, double-track railway that will run from the Clark International Airport to Calamba, Laguna, the 36-station NSCR will cost the government roughly P777.55 billion to build. The entire NSCR line aims to serve 700,000 passengers daily once fully operational.

For its first portion, which is the PNR Clark Phase 1, the government has tapped Filipino-Japanese joint venture D.M. Consunji Inc.-Taisei Corp. to build the first six stations of the line. These stations are in Solis, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Meycauayan, Marilao and Bocaue.

Its second contract package, which covers the construction works for three stations, namely, Balagtas, Guiginto and Malolos, started in February with Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. Ltd. winning the contract. Lorenz S. Marasigan

PNR Clark Phase 1 is a 37.6-kilometer railway that will run from Tutuban, Manila to Malolos, Bulacan.

Once PNR Clark Phase 1 is completed and fully operable by the last quarter of 2021, travel time from Manila to Bulacan will be reduced from 1 hour and 30 minutes to just 35 minutes. This rail line is expected to serve 300,000 passengers daily.

Source: BusinessMirror