Government earmarks P100-b investment in railways

The Department of Transportation is set to multiply by five times its expenditures in railways next year, a congressman said on Saturday.

“The DOTr is spending P100.6 billion next year to build, renew and upgrade railways. This is five times the P19.9-billion allocation this year for the same purpose,” said Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr., House appropriations committee vice chairman.

“The bulk of the spending, or P84.8 billion, is meant for North-South Commuter Railway System,” he said.

Campos was referring to the 147-kilometer, 36-station elevated railway project that will run from Calamba, Laguna to New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

The railway will also provide a direct link to Clark International Airport in the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat in Pampanga.

Campos said the DOTr’s allocation for the Railway Construction, Rehabilitation and Improvement Program in the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 also includes:

• P9.8 billion for the Metro Manila Subway Project Phase 1;

• P5 billion for the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 Rehabilitation Project;

• P878 million for the South Long-Haul Project that will link up Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Bicol and cut travel time between Manila and Legazpi City to just six hours, from 13 hours;

• P97 million for the Mindanao Railway Project; and 

• P74 million for the LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension Project.

Of the P9.8 billion for the Metro Manila subway, Campos said P4.6 billion will be covered by loan proceeds, while the P5.2-billion balance represents the Philippine government’s counterpart funding for the project.

The initial phase of the subway is being financed in part by a P51.2-billion (104.6 billion yen) loan from the Japanese government.

The DOTR is expected to begin tunneling work on the country’s first underground rapid transit system by the last quarter of this year. 

As to the 639-kilometer South Long-Haul Railway, the initial loan agreement for the project was signed in Beijing on Thursday during the bilateral meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Philippine National Railways project is being co-funded by a P175.3-billion loan from the Chinese government.

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