PHILIPPINES: The Economy & Development Council chaired by President Marcos has approved plans to award a public-private partnership contract for the operation and maintenance of the future 147 km North-South Commuter Railway.
The largely elevated 1 435 mm gauge line now under construction will serve the Central Luzon, Metro Manila and Calabarzon regions. It will have have one underground, three at-grade and 31 elevated stations, along with depots at Clark, Valenzuela and Calamba.
Commuter and limited express trains
Two types of service will be provided on the NSCR.
Commuter services are to be operated by 51 eight-car electric multiple-units with a capacity of 2 242 passengers which have been ordered from Sumitomo Corp and Japan Transport Engineering Co.
Limited express services are to be operated by seven eight-car EMUs with a capacity of 386 passengers. These are to be supplied by CAF as subcontractor to Mitsubishi Corp.
Trains will run at 120 to 130 km/h, with minmum headways of 3 min. Commuter services will offer a journey time of around 3 h from Clark to Calamba. compared with 4 h by existing transport modes. The limited express services will reduce the travel time from Clark to Alabang to around 2 h.
Concession start dates
The initial concession would cover partial operation on Phase 1 of the route, running from Clark International Airport to Valenzuela north of the city centre and serving 13 stations. This is expected to commence in December 2027 and run to September 2028.
That would be followed by the Phase 2 concession, running from October 2028 until December 2031. Phase 2 would see the initial service extended to Nichols, while an additional service would operate between Alabang and Calamba at the southern end of the route. and including 32 stations.
Full operations are expected to begin in January 2032. The NSCR is expected to carry 800 000 passengers/day at first, eventually rising to one million.
The total estimated value of the O&M contract is 229·32bn pesos.
Faster, greener and more connected
‘The North-South Commuter Railway Project is a major step toward faster, greener, and more connected transportation for Filipinos as the system will also be integrated with the Metro Manila Subway’ said said Arsenio M Balisacan, Secretary of the Department of Economy, Planning & Development, when the O&M plan was approved in July. ’At the same time, it will promote green and commercial development along its corridors.’
