The Philippine National Railways (PNR) will soon suspend its train service from Gov. Pascual in the City of Malabon up to Calamba, Laguna
to fast-track the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) by eight months and save P15.18 billion.
Department of Transportation ( DOTr) Undersecretary for Railways Cesar B. Chavez made the report during the House of Representatives’ committee hearing on Thursday, February 16.
Suspending the PNR train service in the Malabon-Calamba route, where the NSCR tracks will be laid down and the posts will be erected, will speed up the project's completion and enable the government to save P15.18 billion, he underscored.
DOTr will spend less on land acquisition and relocation of utilities if the NSCR is finished ahead of schedule, Chavez explained.
The NSCR is considered one of the latest train systems in Southeast Asia.
With the target completion in 2026, the NSCR project will build Tutuban-Clark International Airport and Tutuban-Calamba train routes.
Meanwhile, PNR also plans to stop its service in the Alabang-Calamba route at the end of May, 2023.
The contract packages S-04, S-05, S-06, and S-07 of the NSCR extension project from Tutuban up to Calamba were signed on October 6, 2022.
These contract packages cover the construction of all the PNR stations in Alabang, Muntinlupa up to Calamba City in Laguna, including the train depot in Brgy. Banlic, Calamba City.
By March, the contract for the work of the railway line from Manila to Alabang is scheduled to be awarded, so that the PNR train service in Tutuban-Alabang route will also be stopped in October this year.
Already, the DOTr and PNR had coordinated with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for the provision of an alternative transportation franchise to serve some 30,000 passengers to be affected by the stoppage of PNR train service.
“DOTr and PNR will make formal announcement two months before the official stoppage of train operations,” Chavez told the committee hearing.
The earliest stoppage of PNR operation in Gov. Pascual, Malabon-Calamba route is targeted in May 2023.
The PNR leadership will never put train passengers in danger while the construction of the NSCR is ongoing, the DOTr Undersecretary maintained.
“Safety and passengers’ welfare are the number one priority of the PNR leadership," he reiterated.
“We have enough time to prepare all the necessary requirements to enforce and use alternative transportation for the affected passengers of PNR trains,” Chavez added.