Tutuban-Calamba train marks start of grand plans for PNR

LORRIE de Borja used to endure a two-hour commute from Laguna to Manila, where she runs purchasing errands for her catering business. So when the new Tutuban-Calamba train service opened yesterday, the Philippine National Railways (PNR) found a ready customer in the 55-year-old Calamba resident.

“As a caterer I need to go to Divisoria every day to buy ingredients,” Ms. de Borja said in Filipino. Her former routine involved three transfers, which she can now leave behind with the introduction of a train line that brings her directly to Tutuban, within walking distance of her suppliers.

She even finds the ride comfortable, at least by the standards of Metro Manila’s other troubled commuter-train lines. “It’s a pleasant ride compared with the MRT (Metro Rail Transit),” she said.

The state-owned railway expects the 56-kilometer Calamba service to add an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 passengers to its current ridership of 70,000, a drop in the bucket as far as people-moving goes, but a godsend to those who happen to need a reliable ride into the city center from the capital’s bustling southern periphery.

“I can save about an hour a day so it’s a great help,” Ms. de Borja said. “I hope the government will continue providing services like these.”

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya, who helped inaugurate the Calamba line yesterday, promised commuters that his department will continue to implement projects that will hasten the rehabilitation of the PNR.

Among the projects planned are the rehabilitation, development and extension of the north and south lines of the PNR as well as the revival of the 422-kilometer Bicol Express train service.

“In 2015, we’ll be rehabilitating and overhauling three train coaches that are 25 years old. We are also rehabilitating nine pieces of rolling stock from Korea, which are relatively new, 7-8 years old,” Mr. Abaya said.

He added that the department is also targeting the revival of the Bicol Express train service, which was suspended two years ago after a train derailed in Sariaya, Quezon.

“We’re looking at restoring the train services to Legazpi, Albay in the next few months after a successful trial run last August,” he added.

The department, according to Mr. Abaya, is looking at bidding out the overall rehabilitation of the PNR under the government’s flagship Public-Private Partnership infrastructure program.

“The PNR rehabilitation will cover the entire North and South lines, including branch lines of Tarlac-San Jose in the north, and Calamba-Batangas in the south,” Mr. Abaya said, noting that a team is currently assessing the viability of a northern line to Cagayan. --Chrisee Jalyssa V. Dela Paz