The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has inaugurated the country's first-ever eight-car Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) that will be used in the operation the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Clark Phase 1 under the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project.
The PNR Clark Phase 1 covers the Tutuban Station in Manila and the Malolos Station in Bulacan.
DOTr Sec. Art Tugade said eight-car train set measures 160 meters in length, and has an operational speed of 120 kilometer per hour. It is set to serve over 2,228 passengers per train set.
It arrived at the Port of Manila in November 2021 and was delivered at the Malanday Depot in Valenzuela the following month.
Tugade said more train sets are expected to arrive as he already signed a contract for an additional 304 train cars on March 18 as part of the efforts of the national government to improve the mass transportation system under the PNR.
“To the Philippines and the Filipino people, now you see the project—pray that it is completed, be happy that it has started, and I tell you, President Duterte and his “Build, Build, Build” Team will go all the way to make sure that the projects are completed for the comfort and convenience of the Filipino people,” said Tugade.
Once the PNR Clark Phase 1 becomes operational, it is expected to cut the travel time from Tutuban to Malolos to only 35 minutes from the current one hour and 30 minutes.
More or less 300,000 people are expected to be served by the train project.
In his speech during the unveiling the train set, Tugade said the intention of the project is to have a long-term comfort and convenience of our people in partnership with the Japanese government.
“Today is part of that continuing commitment by the Japanese Government through Ambassador Koshikawa (Kazuhiko) to state, demonstrate and affirm with the Filipino people the Japanese Government's commitments to this desire to have a stronger and firmer relationship between these two sovereign,” Tugade said in his speech.
“Despite challenging pandemic situation, important milestones in the transportation projects have been achieved one after another, we attribute this to the strong leadership and determination of Secretary Tugade and I’d like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Secretary. The Japanese government commits its continuous support for the successful completion of the NSCR, and all other railway projects here in the Philippines,” Kazuhiko said for his part.
The NSCR encompasses three segments: the PNR Clark Phase 1 (Tutuban - Malolos)—a 38-kilometer rail line that will connect Tutuban, Manila to Malolos, Bulacan; the PNR Clark Phase 2 (Malolos-Clark), a 53-kilometer rail line leg that will trim down travel time from Malolos City, Bulacan to Clark, Pampanga from two hours to just 30-35 minutes; and the PNR Calamba (Solis-Calamba), which is a 56-kilometer train line, is the southern line which will connect Metro Manila (Solis Street, Tondo) and Calamba, Laguna, that will speed up travel time to one hour, from the current four hours.
The PNR Clark Phase 2 will also feature the first-ever Airport Railway Express Service that will connect Makati City to Clark International Airport from the current 2-3 hours travel time to just 55 minutes.
The NSCR Project is a 147-km rail transport route, comprising of 37 stations and 464 train cars. It stretches across 28 cities and municipalities within the three regions of Central Luzon, National Capital Region, and CALABARZON, and is expected to serve over a million of passengers a day, once fully operational.