Passenger buses and modern jeepneys will be deployed to offset the temporary closure of the Philippine National Railways (PNR), the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said on Wednesday, March 27.

LTFRB chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said they have already identified two routes where the passenger buses will be deployed to cater to the passengers that will be affected by the closure of PNR operations.

“For now, there’s Route 1 and Route 2 which we identified. We will be deploying city buses wherein the operation is similar to that of the EDSA Bus Carousel,” said Guadiz.

“There will be 50 buses, 25 for each route,” he added.

Noting that the passenger buses may not be enough particularly for the short routes, Guadiz said modernized jeepneys will also be deployed along PNR routes to cater to passengers going to Tutuban.

The PNR operations from Alabang to Tutuban and vice versa will be temporarily suspended starting Thursday, March 28, to pave the way to the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) System.

Based on the data of the Department of Transportation, around 20,000 daily passengers will be affected by the temporary closure in Metro Manila alone.

In an LTFRB memorandum issued last year, the identified routes are the FTI-Divisoria via East Service Road and the Alabang (Starmall) – Divisoria via the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) for Public Utility Buses (PUBs).

The Malabon-Divisoria will be serviced by Modern Public Utility Jeepneys (MPUJs).

Based on the memorandum, the units that will be authorized to operate should not be over five years old based on the vehicle's Certificate of Registration with the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

They should also operate under a Special Permit for one year and renewable every year thereafter, or until the NSCR is fully operational, and the existing fare for city buses as authorized by the LTFRB shall be applied.