North- South commuter railway system being rolled out

By Emmie Abadilla 

After more than 14 years of waiting, the government finally broke ground this year for the over ₱2-billion Philippine National Railways (PNR) Clark Phase 1, linking Tutuban, Manila with Malolos, Bulacan.

It is part of the ₱777.5-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Extension Project, spanning 147-kilometers, with a total of 36 stations from Clark International Airport to Calamba, Laguna.

To date, PNR Clark Phase 1 is already in full-blast construction, and on its way to partial completion by 2021.

PNR Clark Phase 2, as well as other state railway projects – PNR Calamba, PNR Bicol, Subic-Clark Railway, and the Mindanao Rail­way, are all in the pipeline and are now undergoing various stages of procurement and pre-construction works.

Phase 1 of the railway with cut travel time to Bulacan from the current one and a half hours to 35 minutes and will serve more than 340,000 passengers per day when it becomes operational by 2021.

This initial phase of the PNR Clark Railway Project will eventu­ally extend all the way to Clark, Pampanga.

It will have 10 stations: Tutuban, Solis, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Mey­cauayan, Malolos, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas and Guiguinto, with a de­pot in Valenzuela city.

Furthermore, Phase 1 will be seamlessly integrated with PNR Clark Phase 2 going to Clark, Pam­panga and PNR South Commuter going to Calamba, Laguna, forming one integrated commuter railway system serving commuters travel­ling to, from, and within NCR, Re­gion III, and Region IV-A.

Also, the NSCR System will be linked with existing railway lines LRT-1, LRT-2, MRT-3 and the Met­ro Manila Subway. It is expected to serve some 500,000 passengers per day once the system is fully opera­tional.

The PNR Clark project took the place of the defunct Northrail proj­ect, which the government aban­doned after reaching an out-of-court settlement with its Chinese contractor after many years of ar­bitration proceedings.

The Department of Transporta­tion (DOTr) selected Sumitomo-Mitsui Construction Co. Ltd. to build the PNR Clark rail line.

“This is, again, one project that has been long delayed,” Transpor­tation Secretary Arthur Tugade ac­knowledged.

As for PNR Clark Phase 2 Con­tract Packages 4 (worth ₱32.7 bil­lion) and 5 (₱18.1 billion) with a combined worth of ₱50.8 billion, a handful of international firms plus one local company turned up to submit bids in October this year.

The bidders include Acciona (Spain), EEI (Philippines), GS En­gineering & Construction (Korea), Posco Engineering & Construction (Korea), PT Waskita (Indonesia) and PT Wika (Indonesia).

PNR Clark Phase 2 is a 53-kilo­meter segment from Malolos, Bu­lacan to Clark, Pampanga and will feature the country’s first airport express railway service. It is part of the ₱777.55-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), a mega network spanning 148 kilometers with 37 stations.

Contract Package 4 consists of 8 kilometers and includes Clark In­ternational Airport Station. Contract Package 5 consists of the NSCR’s Clark Depot.

The DOTr targets to award both packages to the winning bidder within the first quarter of 2020, with construction expected to start next year.

The DOTr also reported a record turnout of 11 international and local bidders for Contract Packages 1-3 in August and expects to award these to bidders this December.

PNR Clark Phase 2 is expect­ed to be partially operational by 2022, reduce travel time between Malolos, Bulacan and Clark Inter­national Airport to 30-35 minutes. It will also slash travel time from Buendia in Makati to Clark Airport from 2 hours via car to 55 minutes through the airport express. It will serve 340,000 passengers daily in its opening year.

Before 2019 ends, DOTr is scheduling more contract pack­ages for bid submission and publication. These include bid submissions for PNR Calamba Package 1 (1 kilo­meter including Blumen­tritt Station) on November 5, 2019, and the start of bidding for the NSCR’s 304 Commuter Train Cars, 56 Airport Express Train Cars, and Electromechanical

Sys­tems within the last quarter of 2019.

“So far, the turnout of bidders for Packages 1-5 of PNR Clark Phase 2 is proof that competition and value for taxpayers’ money are enhanced with a bidding process that is transparent, fair, and corruption-free,” remarked DOTr Undersecre­tary for Railways TJ Batan.

“The vibrant turnout of proponents yet again for Contract Packages 4 and 5 reflects the solid support and trust of the interna­tional infrastructure indus­try in the administration. With a robust competition, we also raise the standard of quality of our infrastruc­ture,” added PNR General Manager Junn Magno.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan Internation­al Cooperation Agency (JICA) are co-financing the NSCR, which the DOTr and PNR will implement. The Procurement Service – De­partment of Budget and Manage­ment (PS-DBM) handles procure­ment for the project.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/12/08/north-south-commuter-railway-system-being-rolled-out/