How an ADB-financed railway project will cut travel time to the provinces

Traffic in Metro Manila is expected to ease with the construction of a railway network linking the northern and southern Luzon provinces

METRO Manila to Clark in less than an hour.

This is one of the goals in the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), which forms part of the government’s massive infrastructure program. The railway network covering a distance of 163 kilometers will connect the growing urban areas in Pampanga and Tarlac north of Metro Manila, with Calamba in the south.

According to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) article posted on the group’s website, NSCR will be constructed in several sections.

The ADB on May 23 approved a $2.75-billion loan — its single largest ever for an infrastructure project — meant for the Malolos-Clark Railway Project, which covers two sections of the NSCR. ADB said a portion of the loan — $1.3 billion — will be committed this year to fund the project, with the balance to be released in two tranches by 2022.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency is co-financing the project, the ADB said.

In a May 24 statement released to reporters by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the agency said the loan is intended for the construction of the NSCR’s PNR Clark Phase 2 and PNR Calamba. These two Philippine National Railways, or PNR, projects comprise part of the 147-kilometer train system connecting Clark in Pampanga, Metro Manila and Calamba in Laguna.

The ADB estimates that by 2025 the railway will service around 342,000 passengers daily on the Manila-Clark corridor, and up to 696,000 commuters per day to Calamba.

Travel time from Metro Manila to Clark International Airport will be cut to less than one hour by rail, the ADB said, noting the project is expected to operate partially starting 2022.

“The benefits from the Malolos-Clark Railway project will be significant, from a more reliable commute for ordinary Filipinos to potentially bigger investments in regional centers like Clark because of the improved access to the capital Manila,” said Mr. Ramesh Subramaniam, director general of ADB’s Southeast Asia Department, in the ADB article.

The railway will make the airport in Clark a viable option for tourists and business travelers, according to the ADB, as this will help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. The Manila airport since 2017 has already exceeded by 20% its maximum capacity of 35 million passengers.

According to the DOTr, the ADB will be financing the civil works of PNR Clark Phase 2 and the first segment of PNR Calamba (Solis to Blumentritt in Manila), including their stations, bridges, viaducts for the elevated railway alignment, and a tunnel leading to the underground station at Clark International Airport.

The transport agency added PNR Clark Phase 2 will have six train stations — Calumpit, Apalit, San Fernando, Angeles, Clark and Clark Airport — which will include multimodal facilities so commuters can transfer from public utility vehicles to trains.