North-South rail project attracts PH, Japanese, French firms
Big Japanese, French and local infrastructure companies have shown keen interest in operating and managing the government’s North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project, a 147-kilometer system that will run from Clark International Airport in Pampanga to Calamba in Laguna.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday said some of the companies that attended the pre-bid conference for the operation and management (O&M) contract included Japanese firms Tokyo Metro, JR East, JR West, Mitsubishi Corp., and Sumitomo Corp; French firms Transdev, RATP, Keolis, and Alstom, and local companies First Balfour Inc. and San Miguel Corp.
The government is undertaking the construction of the railway line with funding through official development assistance (ODA) loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
In a statement, the DOTr said the attendance of many companies at the pre-bid conference at the ADB headquarters is “very encouraging” for the Marcos administration as it seeks to boost economic activity through public-private partnerships (PPP).
“’With the President’s PPP clearance for the operations and management of the NSCR under the private sector, it shows the administration’s trust in private firms to handle the country’s biggest railway system,” acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said.
“The government and the private sector should really help each other so that we can improve the management of our transport infrastructure and make it more effective,” he added.
Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said the high turnout followed the government-led roadshows in Singapore, Paris, Manila, and Japan.
“The turnout of the prospective bidders is very encouraging. Our procurement for the [O&M] provider for the NSCR is very important because we know that it is not enough to build this line. It is also important for us to ensure that management of the rail system is also in order,” Batan said.
Addressing congestion
Sumitomo Corp.’s representative Kosuke Takahashi and Transdev Group business development director Marzio Stefano are both looking at how the NSCR can address transportation issues such as congestion in the greater Metro Manila area, the country’s busiest hub, the DOTr said.
“This is a very big project and a very challenging project in Manila. But also, we believe that the [NSCR] will change the people of Manila, maybe they will experience a new railway system and a new movement method from North to South. So, we like to contribute to this project for a better service to all customers,” Takahashi stressed.
RATP Dev. S.A. business development head Benoit Vo Dinh said he believes the project could fix traffic congestion problems, noting that he too had been stuck in Metro Manila traffic jams made worse by the lack of viable public transport options.
“When I did the site visits, I stayed about seven hours stuck in traffic around Manila. So you can really see and feel how the project will completely change the way Filipino people and the inhabitants around Manila move and live. So its about giving back time to the Manila people and it’s really the kind of project that makes real sense, and makes you understand why you’re working [on] railways,” Vo Dinh said.
Faster travel
Once completed, the P873.6-billion NSCR project is expected to reduce travel time by land from Clark to Calamba from the usual four hours to just two and a half hours.
The DOTr said it would feature the country’s first Airport Express Service, which will connect Clark to Makati in less than an hour, and Clark to Alabang in less than an hour and 15 minutes.
The NSCR system will also feature the country’s first “Through Train Interoperations” with the Metro Manila Subway.
The 35-station rail system is expected to generate 350,000 jobs during construction and operations, and serve almost one million passengers daily at full operations.
Partial operations for the NSCR’s Valenzuela to Malolos segment is set to start in December 2027, while the Malolos-to-Clark segment is targeted to be operational by October 2028.
The NSCR will offer two types of train services: commuter trains, with 51 train sets each capable of carrying 2,242 passengers; and “Limited Express” trains, with seven train sets accommodating 386 passengers each.
The concession period for the partial operations of Phase 1, which stretches from Clark International Airport to Valenzuela (13 stations), will start in December 2027 and continue until September 2028.
The period for the partial operations of Phase 2, which extends the services to Nichols with additional segments from Alabang to Calamba (32 stations), will run from October 2028 until December 2031.
Full operations are expected to begin in January 2032.
