Full steam ahead for Malolos-Clark railway project
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved the second and final tranche of financing for the Malolos-Clark Railway Project (MCRP), a core element of a grander railway project of the government that would connect northern and southern Luzon provinces to the capital region of Metro Manila.
The Manila-based multilateral lender greenlit the last round of soft financing for the MCRP worth $1.45 billion, according to a statement on Wednesday.
This is one of the four biggest loans totaling $2.55 billion that are in the ADB’s pipeline for its host country in 2025. Financing facilities from the ADB carry concessional interest rates and better repayment terms for the borrower compared to commercial debts.
The MCRP is a 53.1-kilometer (km) segment of the 163-km North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR). The first tranche of financing for the MCRP amounting to $1.3 billion was approved in 2019 and “is now fully utilized”, the ADB said.
Zooming out, the grander NSCR system is an inter-regional railway that will run from Clark, Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna. This network is seen to cut the travel time between the two end points by 50 percent.
The ADB is also financing the southern leg of the NSCR system, the South Commuter Railway Project. The NSCR will begin partial operations in the third quarter of 2026, while full operations will commence in 2029.
“The Malolos–Clark Railway Project is one of ADB’s biggest project financing in the entire Asia and Pacific region,” ADB Philippines Country Director Pavit Ramachandran said.
“This major transformative project will spur more investments, create jobs, and contribute to sustaining the country’s growth momentum,” Ramachandran added.
More soft loans
There are three more big loans for the Philippines that the ADB plans to approve this year.
A list sent to reporters showed the Bank is also set to greenlight a $400-million financing for the government’s hunger reduction program under the Reducing Food Insecurity and Undernutrition with Electronic Vouchers (REFUEL) project.
The ADB also earmarked another $400 million to fund the Marine Ecosystems for Blue Economy Development Program.
Lastly, the Bank was set to approve a $300-million financing facility for a program that would accelerate the expansion and sustainability of health services under the Universal Health Care program of the government.
