Despite decades of delays, the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) is steaming ahead, with sections of the line expected to start running by next year.

At a media briefing on Thursday, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said the government is racing to finish segments of the 147-kilometer line, particularly the stretch from Metro Manila to Malolos and Malolos to Clark, before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. steps down.

Dizon said the portion from Manila to Clark is now “a little over 50 percent” complete.

“We are confident that we can run Manila to Malolos by the end of 2026 or early 2027, and we’re targeting Clark before the end of the President’s term,” he said.

The NSCR, co-financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), aims to link Calamba, Laguna to Clark, Pampanga, cutting travel time to under two hours and serving up to 800,000 passengers daily.

The project is among the top priorities under Department Order 2025-002, which designates the Department of Transportation’s Flagship Projects Management Office to oversee infrastructure initiatives.

“The project has been stalled for decades, but we feel that with our partners now, JICA and ADB, we will see these trains start to operate within the President’s term,” Dizon said.

Dizon has been tasked with supervising other major builds, including the Metro Manila Subway, EDSA Busway, Cebu Bus Rapid Transit and the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project.

“Our trains outside Metro Manila — the President has ordered us to speed them up, as they will be the catalyst for decongesting our roads, especially the toll roads,” Dizon said.

“With the trains from Calamba to Clark, it will change the way people live and commute. That’s why the President is pushing everybody to work.”