State-run Philippine National Railways said it signed a P485.3-million contract for the purchase of two train sets from P.T. Industri Kereta Api, an Indonesian government-owned company.
“I hope this project will grow and blossom into other projects in our desire to expand the country railways system from what it is today”•77 kilometers. We hope that during the term of President Duterte, we can finish 1,900 kilometers railway system,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.
“It’s been almost 40 years that PNR organically procured its own train sets that is not donated nor part of a loan package. This is a reflection of Secretary Tugade’s leadership in the railways sector,” PNR general manager Junn Magno said.
The two new Diesel Electric Multiple Units form part of the reliability and availability program of the PNR. The two trains are expected to be delivered in the Philippines in the third quarter of 2019 for commissioning and testing.
PNR currently has 21 train sets, but only six train sets are running.
The Transportation Department earlier said it would procure a contractor for the construction of PNR Clark Phase 1 by the second quarter.
Phase 1 of the PNR Clark Project entails the construction of the rail system along the 38-kilometer segment from Tutuban in Manila to Malolos in Bulacan.
Once completed in 2021, it will have 10 stations and is expected to service around 340,000 passengers daily.
The Japan International for Cooperation Agency recently handed the detailed engineering design of the project to DOTr, signaling the project’s transition from planning to actual construction.
The $3-billion project is expected to reduce travel time from two hours via traditional transportation to 35 minutes from Malolos to Tutuban.
The National Economic Development Authority also approved Phase 2 of the project, a 70-kilometer stretch from Malolos to Clark Freeport in Pampanga.
It will be further extended north to La Union and Tuguegarao. It will also have a segment going to Subic Freeport.