Thursday, December 2, 2021
Construction of PNR Calamba stations to begin 2022
By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
Construction of the 19 stations of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Calamba is set to begin in 2022.
During a site visit at the PNR Balagtas Station, Department of Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John "TJ" Batan said construction works are set to begin as bidding for all nine contracts of the project is "almost complete."
"The first six contracts are already undergoing Asian Development Bank's (ADB) review for concurrence, following which the contracts will be awarded and signed, and construction will very soon be mobilized," Batan said.
The PNR Calamba is a 57-kilometer railway project and is the third and southernmost leg of the North South Commuter Railway (NSCR)--a big-ticket project under the Duterte administration's Build, Build, Build program.
In total, he said the NSCR would be composed of 35 stations from Clark, Pampanga passing through the province of Bulacan and the National Capital Region (NCR) to Calamba, Laguna.
By June 2022, he said the number of operational train stations in the country will increase from 61 to 87, while 92 stations will be under construction or have signed contracts.
"The 179 railway stations operational, contracted, and ongoing construction by 2022 is a critical component of the DOTr's railway network expansion program because it is at stations that a railway becomes more accessible to the people," Batan said.
In July, the DOTr said it received a "record-breaking" number of bids for the PNR Calamba both from local and international contractors.
Once underway, the project is expected to provide around 10,000 direct jobs.
DOTr: Bidding for PNR Calamba line contracts ongoing
Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said bidding was ongoing for all construction contracts of the 56-kilometer Philippine National Railways (PNR) Calamba train line, which would allow new stations to be built as early as 2022.
Batan, who heads the Department of Transportation’s (DOTR) railway division, said all nine contracts for the PNR Calamba, which will link Metro Manila to Laguna, were “almost complete.”
He said the first six contracts of the project were already being reviewed by the Asian Development Bank, which is supporting the project alongside the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
“With the first six contracts already ongoing ADB’s review for concurrence, following which the contracts will be awarded and signed and construction will very soon be mobilized,” Batan said on Wednesday (Dec. 1).
“By next year, we will see 19 more stations start construction within the 56 kilometers of PNR Calamba,” he added.
PNR Calamba’s 19 stations will be located across five cities in Metro Manila and six cities in Laguna, the department previously announced.
It will run from Metro Manila starting in Solis Street, Tondo to Calamba, Laguna, cutting the current travel period of four hours to one hour. The DOTr said the project will be fully completed in 2028 and partially operational in 2025.
It is part of the government’s massive North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), a 148-km network of train lines running from Laguna to Clark in Pampanga province.
Batan provided updates on Wednesday as DOTr officials, led by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, inspected the northern section of the NSCR, the PNR Clark Phase 1 from Tutuban, Manila to Malolos, Bulacan.
The inspection was held in the railway line’s Bocaue and Balagtas stations in Bulacan.
According to the DOTr, the Balagtas station had an overall progress rate of 23.97 percent while the completion rate at the Bocaue station stood at 23.18 percent.
PNR Clark 1 will have 10 stations and serve the cities of Manila, Caloocan, Valenzuela, and the municipalities of Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, and Malolos City.
The train system was designed to serve 300,000 passengers per day and will reduce travel time between Tutuban and Malolos from one and a half hours to 35 minutes.
https://business.inquirer.net/335308/dotr-bidding-for-pnr-calamba-line-contracts-ongoing
PNR phase 1 on track for 2022 completion
TRANSPORTATION Secretary Arthur Tugade on Wednesday said construction of the Bocaue to Balagtas terminals for the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Clark Phase 1 project is on track to be completed next year.
Tugade, who inspected the progress of the construction of Balagtas and Bocaue stations on Wednesday, said overall project progress rate for the PNR Clark 1 was at 51.30 percent.
"What has been a dream and a promise for more than two decades and four administrations, is finally, definitely happening, only in the time of President Rodrigo Duterte," he said.
"This [progress rate] includes not just the 10 stations but also the viaducts and the girders, and other components of the project," Assistant Secretary Goddess Hope Libiran said.
The two stations are targeted to partially operate by October next year.
Tugade said all 10 stations in the PNR Clark Phase 1 can be completed in less than two years, including the next six stations for the 53-kilometer PNR Clark Phase 2 from Malolos to Clark International Airport.
The PNR Clark Phase 1 and 2 are part of the three segments of the massive, game-changing mass transport initiative, the PNR North-South Commuter Railway project.
"Once it becomes operational, it will connect the Malolos and Tutuban, resulting in faster, seamless, and comfortable travel for our commuters," Tugade said.
The 38-kilometer phase 1 segment is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. It will have 10 stations traversing the cities of Manila, Caloocan and Valenzuela in Metro Manila, and the municipalities of Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas and Guiguinto and Malolos City in Bulacan.
It is expected to serve 300,000 passengers every day and reduce vehicular travel time between Malolos and Tutuban in Manila from one hour and 30 minutes to only 35 minutes.
An estimated 7,500 jobs were created when the PNR Clark 1 construction rolled out and is expected to open more job opportunities when the mass railway project gets operational, the Transportation department said.
Last week, the first trainset to be used for the 38-km long commuter railway line arrived in the country. A train set with eight cars can carry 2,238 passengers.
The agency is expecting the delivery of 13 total train sets to be used for the Phase 1 segment. The second batch of train sets is scheduled to arrive in the second quarter of 2022.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/12/02/news/regions/pnr-phase-1-on-track-for-2022-completion/1824370