BEYOND THE PNR TRACKS: Why homes beside railways must go

For more than a decade, Filipinos laughed at the misadventures of the Kosme family in the television sitcom Home Along Da Riles, where the late comedian Dolphy played a father raising his children in a shanty beside a railway track.

The show turned life beside the railroad into comedy, but the reality along the old Philippine National Railways (PNR) corridor has often been far harsher.

Across the decades, the country’s rail lines have seen derailments, collisions and fatal accidents involving people living dangerously close to the tracks or vehicles attempting to cross in front of oncoming trains.

In September 1997, seven people died and more than 200 were injured when two PNR commuter trains collided between Sucat and Alabang in Muntinlupa. One coach derailed during the crash and scraped shanties built close to the railway line, a stark illustration of how settlements had crept into the railway’s safety zone.

In other incidents, trains collided with vehicles at crossings, killing motorists and passengers. In May 2014, a cigarette vendor died and six others were injured when a PNR train struck a jeepney crossing the tracks in Sampaloc, Manila.

In January 2016, another PNR commuter train collided with a jeepney at the Pedro Gil crossing near Paco station, killing one person and injuring several others.

And in December 2019, a car was struck by a southbound PNR train at Halang Crossing in Biñan, Laguna after it reportedly tried to beat the train at the crossing, killing a passenger.

More deaths

In the same year, a passenger van was hit by a Bicol-bound train in Libmanan, Camarines Sur, killing two people and injuring several others.

Pedestrian fatalities have also been recorded. In August 2021, three teenagers were run over by a passing PNR train in Santa Mesa, Manila. In April 2022, a child was killed after being struck by a locomotive at a rail intersection in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Longtime railway personnel also recall how settlements along the tracks created operational hazards for trains. Residents living beside the railway sometimes threw garbage onto passing coaches.

Older PNR rolling stock was, thus, fitted with sloped roof panels designed to deflect debris so trash tossed from nearby homes would slide off the train rather than accumulate on top of the cars.

Such conditions underscore why railway authorities say clearing the right-of-way has become unavoidable as the country rebuilds its rail network.

Thousands of families who lived for decades along the railway corridor are now being relocated as construction of the North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR) moves forward.

In total, 4,515 informal settler families in the northern corridor and 12,210 families in the southern corridor are expected to be relocated as the project advances.

Relocation sites

For communities that grew up alongside the old PNR line, the railway’s reconstruction is already reshaping neighborhoods years before trains begin to run.

The government is preparing relocation sites in Bulacan and Pampanga to house many of those families.

In Bulacan, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has stepped up coordination with the local government of Calumpit to support the resettlement component of the railway’s northern extension.

Officials from the DHSUD Resettlement Implementation Coordinator Project Management Office paid a courtesy call on Mayor Glorime Faustino to align preparations for families affected by the rail expansion project.

The visit forms part of DHSUD’s role as Resettlement Implementation Coordinator, providing policy guidance, technical assistance and direction to housing agencies and local government units involved in relocation programs tied to Department of Transportation railway projects.

For the Calumpit site, authorities are adopting an LGU-led approach.

The relocation area will host families displaced by the NSCR-Ex Philippine National Railways North 2 Segment, including residents from Calumpit and Malolos in Bulacan and from Apalit and Minalin in Pampanga.

LGU role

Mayor Faustino conveyed full support for the undertaking, stressing the need for close coordination among agencies to ensure relocation is carried out in an organized and inclusive manner.

Right-of-way acquisition remains one of the most difficult stages of the project. Thus, the government is also fast-tracking the Calumpit relocation complex known as El Nuevo De Municipio de Calumpit.

Road embankment work leading to the relocation site has already been completed, with construction scheduled to start in April.

The development will house around 3,185 people or 637 families. The site will include six four-story residential buildings as well as community facilities such as a basketball court, parks and playgrounds.

“The DoTr’s priority is clear: there must be proper relocation for our fellow citizens affected by transportation projects. We will ensure that no affected family is left behind,” DoTr Secretary Giovanni Lopez said.

Additional relocation sites are being developed in San Fernando, Pampanga and Cutud, Angeles City.

The relocation programs are being implemented in partnership with the National Housing Authority, the Social Housing Finance Corporation, and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.

Assistant Secretary for Right of Way and Site Acquisition IC Calaguas stressed the importance of resolving land acquisition issues.

“We are confident we can resolve all right-of-way issues and provide proper relocation for the affected residents,” he said.

(To be continued)