BCDA rushing TOR for new rail between Clark, MM

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    CLARK FREEPORT – The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has announced it is preparing the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the public tender of an 84-kilometer Clark Rail Transit System (Clark Rail) that will link the Clark International Airport here to Metro Manila.
    The cost of the project still has to be determined, but BCDA said it wanted bidding for it to be done by the end of the year.

    The announcement came as the Aquino administration’s first commitment to pursue a railway system between Clark and Metro Manila, after it scrapped early on a controversial railways project then known as Northrail initiated by former Pres. Gloria Arroyo.

    The BCDA said the new Clark Rail project would be under the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Project of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

    BCDA President- CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova said BCDA is “in the process of drafting the TOR and intends to bid out the Clark Rail as a joint-venture (JV) project.”

    “Clark Rail is essentially an extension of the NEDA Board-approved NSCR Project that will connect at Malolos, Bulacan,” he explained.

    “Offhand, BCDA will provide the land needed including substantial areas for commercial development at every station. The private JV partner will plan, design, finance, build, operate and maintain the Clark Rail,” Casanova said. He said the Clark Rail will be electric powered and will cover 82 kilometers of double back track between Malolos and Tarlac City, and will have approximately 13 stations.”

    The alignment of the railway is still being studied,” he said.

    “We are considering to put the Clark Rail on a new alignment that would allow us to provide the area needed for the commercial development at every station.

    The Clark Rail will serve as the backbone for the movement of goods, services and people to and from Manila, Clark Green City, Clark International Airport, Clark Special Economic Zone, and Tarlac City,” Casanova said.

    Casanova said BCDA will also provide some 100 hectares of Clark Green City land for use as transport hub that will include the Clark Rail depot.

    Last February, the NEDA Board, chaired by Pres. Aquino, approved two projects under the North-South Railway masterplan. The two projects are the Phase 1 of the NSCR Project and the North-South Railway Project – South Line. Both projects are under the DOTC.

    The Phase 1 of the NSCR Project involves the construction of a 36.7-kilometer narrow-gauge elevated commuter railway from Malolos to Tutuban. The project’s total estimated cost is P117.30 billion and targeted to be implemented from 2015 with a 35-year operation period starting 2020.

    The North-South Railway Project – South Line, on the other hand, has a total estimated cost of P170.70 billion. This project consists of commuter railway operations between Tutuban and Calamba, Laguna.

    It also includes a long haul railway operation between Tutuban and Legaspi, Albay and on the branch line between Calamba and Batangas and an extension between Legaspi and Matnog.

    The NSCR Project, the NSRP-South Line and the Clark Rail Project are envisioned to improve efficiency of land transportation capacity of Metro Manila and provide a more environmentally sustainable mode of transport.

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