THE GOVERNMENT will lead today the marking of the stations for its planned P255-billion railway project from Manila to Clark, part of an effort to decongest Metro Manila and develop infrastructure in Central Luzon.
The Department of Transportation (DoTr) said yesterday that construction will start in the last quarter of 2017 and will be completed by the last quarter of 2021.
Today, the DoTr will mark five stations of the 106 kilometer (km) Manila-Clark Railway Project: Marilao and Meycauayan in Bulacan, Valenzuela, Caloocan, and Tutuban in Metro Manila.
“The project... will be completed under the Duterte administration,” Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, who was previously president of Clark Development Corp., was quoted as saying.
The project will cost P255 billion and will be funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA) from Japan.
The entire line will have 13 train sets with eight cars or coaches per train set. Each train can reach a maximum speed of 120 km per hour. The rail project is expected to cut the two-hour travel time from metro Manila to Clark to just 55 minutes.
The DoTr said the railway line will benefit 350,000 passengers daily on its first year of operations.
The 12 other stations in the plan are: Solis in Tondo; Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Malolos and Calumpit in Bulacan; and Apalit, San Fernando, Angeles, Clark, and Clark International Airport in Pampanga; as well as the proposed New Clark City.
Philippine National Railways (PNR) General Manager Junn B. Magno said the project is expected to decongest Metro Manila and spread economic gains throughout the country.
“This project will ease traffic congestion and help thousands of commuters coming from Bulacan and Pampanga who travel daily to their workplaces or schools in Metro Manila,” Mr. Magno was quoted as saying.
The government has been promoting Clark as an alternative gateway to help decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) which has been reporting passenger traffic well above its capacity.
NAIA accounts for nearly 90% of all domestic passengers in the Philippines and more than 80% of all international passengers.
Last week, Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo said unsolicited proposals for various airport projects will have to take a back seat as the government prioritizes development of the Sangley and Clark airports to immediately decongest NAIA.
The government will spend around P600 to P700 million for the Sangley Airport development and it will also start building a new passenger terminal at the Pampanga airport this year, implementing the Aeroports de Paris masterplan prepared for Clark International Airport in 2015.
Business groups have earlier recommended building a “fast train” to connect the two gateways and make it easier for passengers to transfer from one airport to the other and for the proposed Manila-Clark rail to be extended to NAIA, instead of terminating at Tutuban.
The government, which has made infrastructure its priority, has said it will reduce the use of public-private partnership procurement which it says takes too long to implement. Instead, it prefers projects to be funded internally or through ODA or a mixture of these modes.
NAIA, the fifth-largest airport in Southeast Asia, handled 39.5 million passengers in 2016, well over its designed capacity of 30.5 million passengers per year. -- Imee Charlee C. Delavin
The Department of Transportation (DoTr) said yesterday that construction will start in the last quarter of 2017 and will be completed by the last quarter of 2021.
Today, the DoTr will mark five stations of the 106 kilometer (km) Manila-Clark Railway Project: Marilao and Meycauayan in Bulacan, Valenzuela, Caloocan, and Tutuban in Metro Manila.
“The project... will be completed under the Duterte administration,” Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, who was previously president of Clark Development Corp., was quoted as saying.
The project will cost P255 billion and will be funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA) from Japan.
The entire line will have 13 train sets with eight cars or coaches per train set. Each train can reach a maximum speed of 120 km per hour. The rail project is expected to cut the two-hour travel time from metro Manila to Clark to just 55 minutes.
The DoTr said the railway line will benefit 350,000 passengers daily on its first year of operations.
The 12 other stations in the plan are: Solis in Tondo; Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Malolos and Calumpit in Bulacan; and Apalit, San Fernando, Angeles, Clark, and Clark International Airport in Pampanga; as well as the proposed New Clark City.
Philippine National Railways (PNR) General Manager Junn B. Magno said the project is expected to decongest Metro Manila and spread economic gains throughout the country.
“This project will ease traffic congestion and help thousands of commuters coming from Bulacan and Pampanga who travel daily to their workplaces or schools in Metro Manila,” Mr. Magno was quoted as saying.
The government has been promoting Clark as an alternative gateway to help decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) which has been reporting passenger traffic well above its capacity.
NAIA accounts for nearly 90% of all domestic passengers in the Philippines and more than 80% of all international passengers.
Last week, Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo said unsolicited proposals for various airport projects will have to take a back seat as the government prioritizes development of the Sangley and Clark airports to immediately decongest NAIA.
The government will spend around P600 to P700 million for the Sangley Airport development and it will also start building a new passenger terminal at the Pampanga airport this year, implementing the Aeroports de Paris masterplan prepared for Clark International Airport in 2015.
Business groups have earlier recommended building a “fast train” to connect the two gateways and make it easier for passengers to transfer from one airport to the other and for the proposed Manila-Clark rail to be extended to NAIA, instead of terminating at Tutuban.
The government, which has made infrastructure its priority, has said it will reduce the use of public-private partnership procurement which it says takes too long to implement. Instead, it prefers projects to be funded internally or through ODA or a mixture of these modes.
NAIA, the fifth-largest airport in Southeast Asia, handled 39.5 million passengers in 2016, well over its designed capacity of 30.5 million passengers per year. -- Imee Charlee C. Delavin
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