The Department of Transportation (DOTr) yesterday awarded four civil works contracts amounting to $1.87 billion for the South Commuter Railway Project — the Manila-Calamba, Laguna section of the 147.3-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) system which is targeted to be operational by 2029.
After an international open competitive bidding, DOTr signed three contract packages with the joint venture of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. and Dong-Ah Geological Engineering Co. Ltd. for the 8.5-km railway in Alabang and Muntinlupa, 12.8-km railway viaduct in San Pedro, Pacita, Biñan and Santa Rosa as well as the 10.2-km railway viaduct structure in Cabuyao, Banlic and Calamba.
The fourth contract package was awarded to the joint venture of Lotte Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd., Gí¼lermak Ağır Sanayi Ä°nÅŸaat ve Taahhí¼t A.Åž. and EEI Corp. for the building and civil engineering works of the 22-hectare Calamba depot.
These first four contracts are financed by a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and include the construction of 31.5 km of railway viaducts, nine elevated stations and a railway depot covering the Muntinlupa to Calamba portion of NSCR.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. witnessed the signing of the civil works contracts, undertaken by DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista, and delivered the keynote speech at the event.
“I have just been informed this is the largest ADB infrastructure-funded project in — that ADB has done in Asia. … it shows the confidence that the ADB has always shown, our Korean partners have shown, our Japanese partners have shown in the potential of the Philippine economy, the Philippine worker, and especially now as we slowly transform the economy into the new global post-pandemic economy,” Marcos said.
“We welcome this development at a time when we are going — and we have used this phrase often — full speed ahead towards modernization and our transport system and we are reclaiming our lives from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is what all of this truly means,” he added.
Marcos likewise thanked the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the ADB for co-financing the NSCR system.
During the NSCR system’s contract signing in Calamba, Bautista said the ambitious NSCR project “will bring back the culture of rail transport in the Philippines.”
The remaining ADB-financed civil works contract packages will be awarded soon and will cover the Manila (Blumentritt) to Muntinlupa portion of the NSCR.
“It will strengthen the country’s economic recovery, create as many as 35,000 construction jobs and more than 3,000 permanent jobs during the railway operation, and improve access for residents of Laguna province to employment in Metro Manila,” said Winfried Wicklein, ADB deputy director general for Southeast Asia.
Co-financed by the Philippine-based ADB and JICA, the 147.26-km NSCR project will stretch from Clark International Airport in Pampanga to Calamba City in Laguna, and will cut across 28 cities and municipalities within the regions of Central Luzon, National Capital Region and Calabarzon.
