Monday, January 17, 2022
Settlement of disputes vital to rail projects
Settlement of legal disputes and acquisition of road-right-of-way were cited as the key factors for the realization and continued progress of the major ongoing rail projects by the government, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said over the weekend.
Since 1994, several attempts to revive the different segments of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project failed for various reasons, the DoTr said.
"After more than two decades and attempts of four administrations to implement, as of June 2016, the 147-kilometer, 35-station NSCR Project, had zero awarded contracts, zero physical progress, and zero trains ordered, started production," the DoTr said.
"Worse, the latest attempt to implement the project ended up in a protracted legal battle in international arbitration, which threatened to further delay and stall progress on the NSCR as of June 2016," it added.
In 2017, the DoTr concluded a historic out-of-court settlement agreement of the legal dispute with Sinomach (China National Machinery Industry Corporation) that paved the way for the construction of the NSCR.
"This move saved the Philippine government more than P5 billion ($100 million) in potential payment of claims to Sinomach, and hundreds of millions more in legal fees and arbitration costs. More importantly, the settlement agreement removed this legal obstacle to the progress of the NSCR Project," Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.
With assistance from the Japanese government, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the DoTr said both the Philippine National Railway (PNR) Clark Phase 1 (Tutuban-Malolos; 38 kilometers) and PNR Clark Phase 2 (Malolos-Clark; 53 kilometers) are now in full swing when it comes to construction.
The delivery of the NSCR's 58 eight-car train sets (totaling 464 train sars or bagons) has started, with the first train set already delivered in November 2021, the agency said.
In addition, all nine civil works contracts for the construction of PNR-Calamba (Manila-Calamba covering 56 kilometers) are about to be awarded within the first quarter of 2022.
A DoTr progress report showed as of December 2021, the PNR Clark 1 has a 53.85-percent overall progress rate, while the PNR Clark 2 has a 34.46-percent overall progress rate.
The NSCR will cut travel time from Clark International Airport to Calamba, Laguna from over four hours to as short as one hour and 30 minutes and is expected to serve more than 1 million passengers per day once fully operational.
In addition, the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT) 1 Cavite Extension project from Baclaran to Bacoor commenced construction on Sept. 1, 2019, after being delayed for more than 20 years.
"After catching up on right-of-way acquisition and its free and clear certification, as well as addressing a number of unresolved issues and constraints, the DoTr, together with the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) and Light Rail Manila Corp., started actual construction works for the project," the agency said.
Once completed, this extension is expected to reduce travel time between Baclaran and Bacoor, Cavite to just 25 minutes, from 1 hour and 10 minutes, and increase LRT-1's capacity from 500,000 to 800,000 passengers daily.
DOTR to grant 9 contracts for PNR-Calamba rail plan in Q1
The Department of Transportation said over the weekend nine civil works contracts for the construction of the P344.6-billion PNR-Calamba Project are set to be awarded in the first quarter of 2022.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the overall progress rate of the PNR Calamba Project reached 28.63 percent as of December 2021.
He said the 56-kilometer railway project would serve at least 340,000 passengers a day in its partial operations. Ridership is expected to increase up to 550,000 passengers once the railway is on full operations by 2028.
It is a part of the longer 147-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway System (which has 35 stations from Calamba in Laguna to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga. The NSCR System will have a fleet of 464 train cars or 58 trains sets, including seven airport express trains.
Data from the department showed that PNR Clark 1, or the Manila-Malolos section, had a 53.85-percent overall progress rate while PNR Clark 2, or the Malolos-Clark segment, registered 34.46-percent construction progress as of end-2021.
The agency said the construction of the P106-billion PNR Clark 1 was on track to be completed by 2024. Once finished, this section will have 10 stations and will traverse the cities of Manila, Caloocan, Valenzuela, and Meycauayan and the municipalities of Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas and Guiguinto and Malolos City in Bulacan province.
The second leg of the NSCR Project, the 53-kilometer PNR Clark Phase 2, is expected be partially operational by the second quarter of 2023, while the full operation is targeted by the third quarter of 2024.
The project will connects cities and municipalities in Central Luzon to Metro Manila and will link the railway system with the country’s first ever Airport Express Service going to Clark International Airport.
The DOTr said the delivery of the NSCR’s 58 8-car train sets (464 train cars or bagons) started, with the the first set arriving in November 2021.
Once completed, the NSCR System intends would cut travel time from Clark International Airport to Calamba from more than 4 hours to just 1.5 hours.
Travelers from Makati will also be able to reach the Clark International Airport in less than an hour aboard the Airport Express train service. The NSCR System can initially accommodate up to 1 million daily passengers.
This will support the viability of Clark International Airport as a major gateway in Luzon and decongest the major roads and expressways connecting Calabarzon, Metro Manila and Central Luzon.