The Philippine National Railways (PNR) plans to restore the Lucena–Naga train service by end-2026, but the project faces a major funding shortfall. PNR has asked the government for additional funding beyond the PHP351.6 million allocated in the 2026 national budget, far below the agency’s PHP9.19 billion request. The funds are needed to repair bridges, tracks, and acquire new locomotives and maintenance equipment for the 250 km route connecting Southern Tagalog and Bicol.
Additionally, the operations continue to rely on manual maintenance and ageing assets. To supplement its limited resources, the PNR is in talks with rail operators from Japan and Taiwan for possible donations of narrow-gauge locomotives. It also plans to reassign trainsets from Manila and Caloocan, worth PHP143.8 million, to serve the line. The revived service is intended to provide interim connectivity ahead of the proposed South Long Haul (SLH) Project, which remains stalled after the Philippines withdrew a China-funded loan request in 2023.
The 557 km SLH—linking Sucat, Muntinlupa to Matnog, Sorsogon—is expected to cut Manila–Bicol travel time to four hours and boost regional growth. The project, estimated at PHP175 billion, is one of the country’s largest planned railway investments.