Govt, contractor set to ink deal for PNR Clark Phase 1
By: Lorenz S. Marasigan
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to sign the civil-works contract with a Filipino-Japanese contractor for the partial construction of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Clark Phase 1 on Monday.
The DOTr said in a media advisory that the package involves the construction of the Solis, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Meycauayan, Marilao and Bocaue stations of the 37.6-kilometer railway that will run from Tutuban, Manila, to Malolos, Bulacan.
A joint venture between Taisei Corp. of Japan and Filipino construction company DMCI Holdings Inc. won the contract for this project. The other half of the project was awarded to Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. Ltd. in February. It covers the following stations: Balagtas, Guiguinto, Malolos.
The whole project costs P149 billion and will be funded through an official development assistance package from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Once completed, commuters from Tutuban will reach Malolos in approximately 35 minutes from over one and a half hours of travel time.
“We expect the rail line to serve 300,000 passengers per day once it has been completed in the fourth quarter of 2021,” the media advisory read.
PNR Clark Phase 1 is part of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Project, which is a 147-kilometer mass transportation railway system traversing Clark, Pampanga, and Calamba, Laguna, via Manila. It costs roughly P777.55 billion.
The groundbreaking of the PNR Clark Phase 1 Project was held on February 15 in Malolos, Bulacan.
PNR Clark Phase 1 will have 13 train sets, composed of eight cars each, which will be running at a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour.
The DOTr said PNR Clark Phase 1 will be seamlessly connected with PNR Clark Phase 2 (Malolos-Clark) and PNR Calamba, forming one integrated commuter railway system that will serve commuters traveling to, from and within the National Capital Region, Region 3 and Region 4A.
It is one of the flagship projects of the Duterte administration. Flagship infrastructure projects are considered by the government as “high impact” or game changing because of the number of jobs that these can create.
Source: Business Mirror