Construction of the Metro Manila section of North South Commuter Railway slated to commence in October.

Philippine National Railways(PNR) issued a statement that said the Philippine rail system entity is set to begin the construction of the commuter rail link or the first phase of the Metro Manila section of North South Commuter Railwa(NSCR) project that is expected to start in October of this year.

Mr. Ted Macapagal, the Chairman of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) shared updates recently , on the North South Commuter Railway project in Metro Manila. Macapagal noted that efforts to seal breaches and remove tracks are progressing steadily with completion expected by October to pave the way, for construction activities.

It was on May 28 that the NSCR demanded that PNR, in regards to its operations from Tutuban to Alabang, suspend its operations to allow for the construction activities that were to be done. As part of the Metro Manila leg, the elevated and the grade tracks and stations of the NSCR will be constructed, starting at Blumentritt in Manila and ending to Sucat in Paranaque City. On a parallel plan, the leg of the NSCR that goes from Alabang to Calamba started to be worked on in July of the previous year.

The PNR NSCR project is the broad-based plan for the Clark to Calamba Line which is an 147-kilometer route with a total of 37 stations in it. We were informed by Macapagal that the projected entire NSCR line would be completed by the year 2028, and the northern area is expected to be operational earlier before 2027.

In addition to giving other relevant details on the Metro Manila section of North South Commuter Railway, Ms. Macapagal announced that the northern leg of NSCR, which consists of the segments Tutuban-Malolos and Malolos-Clark, is now over 50% finish. He said that the station construction has been going on very well and that they have already been at 80% – 85% to the completion of the project.

Completion date

Macapagal is preparing for trips to run trial runs already this year or next, with completion of the whole project before 2028, which is right before the elections.

Macapagal had special mention of the project containing a fleet of approximately 60 electric multiple trains which will run on the North South Commuter Railway once the line is finished. The new generation of this fleet represents just one of the strategic areas in which we will intensify the effort of making public and sustainable transport attractive to the residents of this region.

Scope

In addition, the implementation of the project for the Commuter train service of the Metro Manila section of North South Commuter Railway stands as a great pedestal in the construction of the Filipino people’s railway system. Facing somewhat aggressive goals of timely commissioning as well as effective put to use, NSCR project will be able to add value in terms of connectivity and mobility on both local and regional scales.