Gerald de la Pena, Bloomberg TV Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation has started work on the Tutuban to Clark railway line that, once completed, will cut the current two-hour travel time by road to only 55 traffic-free minutes.
Part of the defunct Manila-Dagupan line will be revived and included in the new stretch, which will include the old train station of Meycauayan, Bulacan, a heritage structure the provincial government will be rehabilitating.
On Monday, officials led by Transportation Secretary unveiled the markers on five stations: Tutuban, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Meycauayan and Marilao.
The new railway route will have 17 stations and go all the way to the Clark International Airport. It will be operated by Philippine National Railways, which also plans to expand southward with the revival of the Bicol Express.
Construction on the P255-billion project, funded with Official Development Assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter this year.
Tugade said not only do they hope to finish work in 2020, a year ahead of JICA’s projected schedule, they also intend to “partially operate” the system before that “if we can have an engineering system” that would allow this.
The railway project was originally contracted out in 2003 as the Northrail Project but this was cancelled in 2011 over allegations of corruption and overpricing.
Structures had actually been built in Bulacan but the DOTr said these were no longer sound.
Addressing lingering doubts if the project can actually be built this time around, Tugade said: “We can’t do this alone. We need your support and cooperation. We need your trust, your confidence, we need your prayers.”
