CLARK FREEPORT – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said here that prebidding is now being held for the $3-billion Phase 1 of the PNR North- South Commuter Railway (NSCR ) Project from Manila to Malolos, so that the project could be finished by 2021.
In a press conference here this week, DOTr officials led by Sec. Arthur Tugade said the pre-bid conference for the 38-kilometer Phase 1 from Tutuban in Manila to Malolos is already being held, with 12 firms expressing interest to undertake the project.
Phase 1 is expected to accommodate around 340,000 passengers daily once it starts operations in 2021.
The project, which costs $3-billion, will be funded through official development assistance from Japan, the DOTr said.
The initial works include clearing the site, grading of uneven surfaces and the demolition of obstructing structures.
Phase 1 will cut travel time between Manila and Malolos to only 30 minutes.
The DOTr said Phase 2 from Malolos to Clark would cover 53 kilometers and that a loan agreement for this project is expected to be done in December this year so that the project could be finished in the first quarter of 2022.
The next step would be to extend the railway by another 17 kilometers up to the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac. The railway project will have seven stations, running from the Tutuban and Solis stations in Manila and the cities of Caloocan and Valenzuela.
It will then pass through Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Malolos, and Calumpit in Bulacan, then go through Pampanga via Apalit, San Fernando, Angeles, Clark Freeport, Clark International Airport, and the proposed New Clark City.
The NCSR is part of the mass transit backbone forming the North- South Corridor advocated in the National Economic and Development Authority’s 2014 Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development Study for Metro Manila and its Surrounding Areas.
