The Department of Transportation (DOTr) yesterday started the construction of the P73-billion South Commuter Railway project from Alabang to Calamba — the last of three segments of the flagship rail transport infrastructure, North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) system.
The DOTr and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) broke ground on July 3 for the South Commuter Railway, which consists of three civil contract packages of railway viaduct structures and elevated stations at Alabang, Muntinlupa, San Pedro, Pacita, Biñan, Santa Rosa, Cabuyao, Banlic and Calamba.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the DOTr, PNR and project stakeholders have overcome every challenge to meet the project’s deadline.
“We are forging ahead, overcoming every challenge, because we know meeting the project’s deadlines will lead to a game-changing rail system that will transform lives,” he said at the groundbreaking for the three contract packages of the project.
Bautista said the game-changing rail infrastructure will “open the gates for the renaissance of the railway industry in the Philippines.”
An elevated, double-track and electrified train system will be constructed along the existing PNR route from Alabang to Calamba, said Bautista.
With this, PNR is giving way by suspending operations of the Alabang-Calamba segment of its line to construct the three contract packages efficiently.
Bautista said the existing tracks from Alabang to Calamba will be relocated to the other rail line, the proposed 565-kilometer South Long-Haul project that will stretch all the way to Bicol.
Construction of the NSCR’s last segment is part of DOTr’s collaboration with the Asian Development Bank, embassies of South Korea and Japan, Japan International Cooperation Agency, contractor Hyundai-DongAh joint venture and the local government of Santa Rosa, Laguna.
A 147-kilometer railway system, the NSCR will have 35 stations and will run on 51 commuter train sets and seven express train sets.
The rail line is expected to provide two hours of end-to-end travel for over 600,000 passengers daily on full operations.
A flagship project under the “Build Better More” program, the NSCR system aims to seamlessly connect Clark, Pampanga and Calamba, Laguna by linking Metro Manila to its neighboring provinces from four to 4.5 hours of travel time, to just less than two hours.
