Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista has committed to digitalize the country’s railway system, saying the modernization is the only way to turn the Philippine’s mass transport system at par with other countries, especially Japan.

Bautista said it will start with the improvement of manpower and technical know-how of operators and personnel of the country’s railway system through the Philippine Railway Institute (PRI).

The PRI is the country’s research and training center handling research efforts and building capacities for personnel in the railway sector.

“Digitalization and technology-driven innovations are expected to improve the country’s railway systems to become at par with those of Japan. In order for the Philippines’ railway system to achieve enhanced system efficiency, we need to embrace this digital evolution towards a people-centric transport sector transformation,” said Bautista.

“It is imperative that we upgrade areas where bottlenecks in the sector occur and implement proper infrastructure to increase capacity,” he added.

Bautista explained that the digitalization efforts come with equipping railway human resources—operators, engineers, and other personnel— with the latest technology, the railway sector can develop new and better services to passengers.

Currently, the country’s railways operators and personnel have been training through the state-of-the-art training simulators grant from the Japanese government to the PRI.

Bautista said the training simulators serves as an introduction to digitalization especially with upcoming mega railway projects such as the MRT-7, North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), Metro Manila Subway Project, and LRT-1 Cavite Extension.

“Keeping in step with the technological advancements will also improve the sector’s efficiency. Digitizing Philippine railway operations means building a solid and fully connected technology stacked rail sector,” said Bautista.