The United States (US) is pushing the pedal to the metal in developing its feasibility study (FS) for the proposed Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas (SCMB) Railway as it searches for a railway expert to oversee progress on the project.

In an advisory, the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) announced that it is seeking a US contractor to act as a watchdog over deliverables submitted by the contractor working on the FS.

The USTDA awarded the technical assistance (TA) contract to Virginia-based consultancy Cadmus Group in June last year, allocating around $3.8 million for the study.

Under its contract, Cadmus is tasked with carrying out preparatory studies, including the development of the railway’s transport model, a port-rail integration study, an environmental impact assessment, and regulatory and legal analyses.

Last month, Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said the study is ongoing and is expected to be completed next year.

Based on the project notice, the company that will oversee the development of the study will review and assess each milestone deliverable submitted by Cadmus to the USTDA. The contract spans from initial information gathering to the final report and stakeholder presentation.

“The assessment should consider all relevant aspects of the scope of work and should give the professional opinion of the contractor as to whether the work presented in the deliverable is sufficient and acceptable for payment,” the USTDA said.

In addition, the contractor is expected to coordinate with co-funders of the broader FS, which include the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Swedfund, the development finance arm of Sweden.

The ADB has committed $8 million for an FS on SCMB railway, while Swedfund is investing ₱74 million to fund its own study.

Batan said the ADB-led study kicked off last March, with the Swedfund study set to follow later this year and conclude in 2028.

The USTDA said it will accept proposals for the contract until June 2.

The US government is going all in on the development of SCMB railway, especially as the proposed Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) continues to attract investors.

The 250-kilometer (km) SCMB railway, the primary logistics backbone of LEC, aims to ease the movement of goods among Luzon’s key economic hubs.

Launched in 2024, LEC was established as a trilateral partnership among the Philippines, the US, and Japan.

It has since expanded to include other investment partners, namely Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, South Korea, and the United Kingdom (UK).