It’s all systems go for Malolos-Clark railway plan

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Thursday signed P85 billion in construction contracts for a key phase of the 148-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) System in Luzon, a major infrastructure project that is moving forward under the Duterte administration.

The department led the virtual signing ceremonies with Filipino and international contractors for the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Clark Phase 2—also known as the Malolos-Clark Railway Project, which formed part of the NSCR.

This phase stretches 54 km and will feature a so-called airport express service since it will create a railway link between Metro Manila and Clark International Airport in Pampanga by 2025.

In his remarks on Thursday, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade called the NSCR the singe largest project under the government’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure program.

“This administration shall remain firm and steadfast in turning this railway project into a living reality,” Tugade said.

Three contract packages were signed during the event.

The first is with the venture between Megawide Construction Corp., Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. and Dong-Ah Geological Engineering Co. Ltd.

Worth P28.4 billion, this package covers 17 km in the towns of Malolos and Calumpit in Bulacan and in the towns of Apalit and Minalin in Pampanga.

“We have strong and extremely competent partners in Hyundai and Dong-ah, from whom we will be able to learn and leverage our learnings on as we pursue more projects in this space,” Edgar Saavedra, Megawide chair and CEO, said in a statement.

Package No. 2 was signed with the venture between Acciona Construction Philippines and Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd.

Worth P33.7 billion, this will cover 16 km in the towns of Minalin, Sto. Tomas and San Fernando in Pampanga.

The final package was signed with Italian-Thai Development Public Co. Ltd. It is worth P22.78 billion and covers 12 km in the towns of San Fernando, Angeles and Mabalacat in Pampanga.

Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said construction for these segments were set to begin before the end of 2020 and the department was targeting partial operations by 2023 before its full completion in five years.

The NSCR is being financed with loans provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

ADB director general for Southeast Asia Ramesh Subramaniam said during the signing ceremonies that the three packages alone would create over 25,000 jobs in the next three years.

He said the project was also timely in creating employment in the midst of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These civil works contracts will help accelerate the Philippines’ economic revival over the next 12-24 months,” Subramaniam said.

The NSCR will eventually encompass 37 stations, 464 train cars across 26 cities and municipalities across in Luzon. It can serve about 830,000 passengers daily once operational and has provisions for future expansion.

It includes the PNR Clark Phase 1, a 38-km line from Tutuban in Manila to Malolos Bulacan. The segment, which now stands at 40.48 percent completion rate, is targeted to be partially operable by December 2021.

The final segment is the 72-km PNR Calamba from Solis, Manila to Los Banos, Laguna. The segment now stands at 20.42-percent progress rate.

https://business.inquirer.net/309115/its-all-systems-go-for-malolos-clark-railway-plan

Malolos-Clark railway project gets underway

 Construction of the PNR Clark phase 2 project, or the Malolos-Clark portion of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) system is set to begin before the year ends after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) completed the award of civil works contracts worth $2.5 billion.

The project’s three remaining civil works packages worth more than $1.7 billion were signed yesterday, completing the five civil works packages needed to start the project’s construction.

“We are starting construction by November or December of this year with the mobilization of our three contractors, with partial operability scheduled in 2023, and our full completion schedule in 2025,” Transportation Undersecretary for railways Timothy John Batan said.

The PNR Clark phase 2 project is the  53-kilometer northern segment of the mega railway network known as the NSCR system which will have a 148-kilometer route length, 37 stations and 464 train cars.

“The signing of these contracts means the Malolos–Clark Railway project construction will now go on full speed, helping the country’s economic revival over the next 12 to 24 months,” Asian Development Bank (ADB) director-general for Southeast Asia Ramesh Subramaniam said.

“When completed by 2025 based on current plans, we expect the project to benefit nearly 350,000 commuters daily. We are proud to work with the Philippine government, development partners, and the private sector to deliver this important flagship infrastructure project using modern technology for the country,” he said.

The project is co-financed by the ADB and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

JICA will provide up to $2 billion in additional funding for the rolling stock and railway systems.

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The NSCR encompasses three railway projects, including the PNR Clark phase 1, or the Tutuban-Malolos portion, which is a 38-km rail line that will connect Tutuban, Manila to Malolos, Bulacan.

The segment, which will reduce travel time from approximately one hour and 30 minutes to just 35 minutes, is now 41 percent complete and is targeted to be partially operable by December 2021.

The PNR Clark Phase 2, or the Malolos-Clark segment, will cut travel time from Malolos, Bulacan to Clark International Airport to just 30 minutes from the original one hour and 30 minutes.

The first contract package of the Malolos–Clark railway line was awarded to the joint venture of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd., Dong-ah Geological Engineering Co. Ltd., and Megawide Construction Corp.

Spain’s Acciona Construction Philippines Inc. and Daelim Industrial Co., Ltd. won the second contract package, while the third contract package was awarded to Italian–Thai Development Public Co. Ltd.

Contract package four was awarded in August to a joint venture of Acciona Construction Philippines Inc. and EEI Corp., while contract package five was given to Korea’s POSCO Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd.

The last NSCR segment is the PNR Calamba, which is a 56-km line that will run from Solis, Manila to Calamba, cutting travel time to one hour from three hours.

https://www.philstar.com/business/2020/10/09/2048147/malolos-clark-railway-project-gets-underway

DoTr: PNR Clark Phase 2 construction to start before yearend

Construction works for the $2.5-billion Philippine National Railways (PNR) Clark Phase 2 project will begin before 2020 ends, according to the Department of Transportation (DoTr).

In a briefing on Thursday, Timothy John Batan, Transportation secretary for railways, said “we are starting construction by November [or] December this year with the mobilization of our three contractors, with partial operability scheduled in 2023 and out full completion scheduled [in] 2025.”

The project “will go full speed to aid [the country’s] economic recovery,” he added.

Batan’s remarks come after his department signed three civil works contracts for the project worth $1.7 billion.

Megawide Construction Corp. and its South Korean partners Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. and Dong-ah Geological Engineering Co. Ltd. secured the P28-billion N-01 contract to build a 17-kilometer viaduct that includes elevated station buildings in Calumpit town in Bulacan province and Apalit municipality in Pampanga province.

Acciona Construction Philippines and Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. bagged the P33.7-billion N-02 contract package for a 16-kilometer viaduct and one station building in the towns of Minalin and Sto. Tomas and San Fernando city in Pampanga.

Italian-Thai Development Public Co. Ltd. won the contract to build a 12-kilometer viaduct and one station building in Pampanga as part of the Malolos-Clark extension of the North-South Commuter Railway System.

The 53-kilometer PNR Clark Phase 2, which would run from Malolos in Bulacan to Clark in Pampanga, is part of the government’s P777.5-billion North-South Commuter Railway Extension Project.

The DoTr has said the project would be operational by 2022, but the Asian Development Bank said in a statement on Thursday the railway might start accommodating passengers beginning in 2025.

It is expected to serve 340,000 passengers daily.

Once finished, travel time from Gil Puyat Ave. in Makati City to Clark International Airport would be cut to 55 minutes versus the current two hours by private vehicle via expressway.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/10/09/business/business-top/dotr-pnr-clark-phase-2-construction-to-start-before-yearend/778240/