The North-South Commuter Railway Project is one of the flagship projects of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Philippine National Railways (PNR). It is one of the biggest projects and falls under the Build, Build, Build programme of the Philippines government. The Build, Build, Build programme aims to harness investment in infrastructure for the economic development of the Philippines.

In February 2019, construction of the North-South Commuter Railway Project was initiated. The start of work on the project was marked by the commencement of construction work on PNR Clark Phase I. As of now, Phase II of the project is under bidding.

Overview and progress

Once completed, the project will span around 146.6 km. Entailing a total investment of PhP 777.55 billion, it features around 36 stations, a fleet of 58 electric multiple units (EMUs) including seven airport express trains and a fully elevated double-track railway system. The entire project is likely to become operational by 2023 when all facilities are put in commercial use. The project involves three components, namely, the PNR Clark Phase I, PNR Clark Phase II and PNR Calamba Project, which will operate as a single integrated rail line.

PNR Clark Phase I: PNR Clark Phase I comprises the Tutuban to Malolos section. The 37.6 km long section comprises 35.4 km of elevated viaduct and 2.2 km of embankment. The line in this section will be operated by a fleet of 13 eight-car EMUs with a maximum speed of 120 km per hour.

In April 2019, the contract for the Tutuban to Bocaue section, which is package one of this phase, has been awarded to the consortium of DMCI Holdings Inc and Japanese construction firm Taisei Corporation. The contract signing for the same will take place soon. The second package of this phase, from Bocaue to Malolos, has already been awarded to Japan-based Sumitomo-Mitsui Construction Corporation Limited.

Ten stations, namely, Tutuban, Solis, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto and Malolos, have been planned for this section. A depot and workshop have also been planned between Old Valenzuela station and Meycauayan station in northern Valenzuela City. The total area of the depot is around 14 hectares and the track structure in the depot will be a ballasted track.

This line is likely to reduce the travel time between Manila and Malolos from 1.5 hours to just 35 minutes. As per estimates, it  will probably witness a ridership of over 300,000 passengers per day once operational.

Expected to be operational by the last quarter of 2021, around 91 per cent of the alignment for Phase I has already been cleared under advance works.

PNR Clark Phase II: PNR Clark Phase II will span from Malolos to Clark covering a length of 53 km. The pre-bid meeting for Phase II took place in early March 2019.

Three civil work contract packages covered under the pre-bid meeting involved around 45 km and five stations. The first package envisages a 17 km viaduct and two stations. The second one comprises a 16 km viaduct and one station. The last contract covers a 12 km viaduct and two stations.

As per DOTr, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be financing the civil works contracts through open competitive bidding. Moreover, two more civil work contracts funded by ADB are expected to be launched by the second quarter of 2019. Following that, contracts for electromechanical systems and trains, which will be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will be launched.

PNR Calamba Project: This is the last leg of the North-South Commuter Railway Project and will involve building a 56 km line from Manila to Calamba, Laguna.

Via the North-South Commuter Railway Project, Japanese technology including energy-efficient trains, platform screen doors, signalling, flood resilience and anti-seismic designs will be showcased. According to DoTr estimates, the railway system will have a daily ridership of around 500,000 passengers once it becomes fully operational by the year 2023.

Cost economics and funding

In November 2018, the Cabinet Cluster of the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) approved a 76 per cent hike in the cost of the project in lieu of capacity expansion of the project and improving its operational efficiency and safety. The project cost was increased to PhP 777,551.07 million from PhP 440,881.05 million.

The increased project cost has been attributed to its detailed engineering designs, including a shift to elevated viaducts instead of at-grade structures based on efficiency and safety considerations, the adoption of standard gauge instead of narrow gauge for the smooth operation of all sections, increase in the number of trains and change from single to double tracks for PNR Clark Phase II.

The cost of resettlement activities to ensure proper housing and welfare support for project-affected informal settler families that have been estimated to be close to 12,901 has also been accounted for in the revised cost.

As per NEDA, the project cost is about $100 million per km which is considered to be cost effective as compared to other railway projects in Asia.

At the time of cost revision, the ICC also recommended DOTr to implement measures that will assist the government to maximise non-farebox revenues including incremental taxes from increased property value through revenue sharing arrangements with concerned local government authorities and through the development of national government properties in the project area.

JICA has been roped in to provide the funds for the project. In January 2019, the Philippine and Japanese governments signed a PhP 80.47 billion ($1.54 billion) loan agreement for the project. This comprises the first tranche of JICA’s financial support. The loan has an interest rate of 0.1 per cent per annum for non-consulting services and 0.01 per cent per annum for consulting services. It has a repayment period of 40 years, inclusive of a 12-year grace period.

The Philippine government is also likely to provide a subsidy of about PhP 5 billion per year to cover the capital, operating and renewal costs of the project.

In sum

Once PNR Clark Phase I, PNR Clark Phase II and the PNR Calamba Project are connected together, the North-south Commuter Railway Project will form an integrated commuter railway system. This integrated commuter railway system will provide service to commuters travelling to, from, and within the National Capital Region, Central Luzon (Region 3) and Calabarzon (Region IV-A). It will also be linked to existing railway lines, light rail transit (LRT)-1, LRT-2, mass rapid transit-3 and the upcoming Metro Manila Subway.

This project will enhance connectivity in the Philippines by strengthening the railway sector.