Construction of the 147.26-kilometer or km North-South Commuter Railway Project from Clark in Pampanga to Metro Manila and then to Calamba City in Laguna has started, Michael Ted R. Macapagal, chairperson of the Philippine National Railways, said yesterday.

The Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency are financing the P873.62-billion project.

Acciona-DMCI and Leighton-First Balfor were awarded the contracts to undertake the construction of elevated rails for commuters and ground-level rails for freight. Three depots and 35 stations will be built along the way.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista attended the contract signing ceremony in Malacañang Palace on 27 April 2023.

Two Japanese firms, Sumitomo Corporation and Japan Transport Engineering Company, will provide, initially, a fleet of 13 electric multiple units (trains) with 13 cars each for the train system.

Once the project is completed, PNR will be able to ferry 800,000 passengers every day safely and in comfort.

‘Father of Phl railway’

Travel time on the entire length of the railway system will be cut in half, from four to two hours. That also applies to the movement of goods.

Macapagal was appointed to his post on 2 May. After taking his oath of office before the DoTr chief, he remarked that Marcos will go down in history as “the father of the Philippine railway system.”

Macapagal said he was grateful for having been given a role in the history-making process.

The new PNR chair spent some time in the United States, where he worked for years as division president of Stewart Title Company of San Francisco Bay Area.

The company is one of the largest underwriters in the world with offices all over the US and 80 other countries.