THE AWARD of a US$50m contract on June 1 should see the section of Philippine National Railways' north - south main line on the island of Luzon rehabilitated, and 21 air-conditioned DMU cars placed in service. A Korean consortium comprising Daewoo, Hanjin Engineering & Construction and train builder Rotem won the deal after two rounds of bidding which only produced a single offer.

The section where track and stations are to be rehabilitated links suburban Aalabang with Calacoon City. But PNR also wants to restore the line from Calamba City to Lucena City, and then reconnect Calamba with Alabang under Phase 2.