Laguna residents have asked officials from the Department of Transportation and the Philippine National Railways officials to put additional train trip services in the province as an alternative transport amid the worsening traffic they encounter along the South Luzon Expressway going to and from Manila.
As of October, only two PNR Metro Commuter Trains serve the Calamba-Manila (northbound) and Manila-Calamba (southbound) trips, respectively, with the following schedule:
• Northbound train departs Calamba City Station at 4:48 a.m. and arrives at the Tutuban Station (Mayhaligue St., across Tutuban Centermall in Divisoria, Manila) at 7:14 a.m. (estimated time)
• Southbound train departs Tutuban Station at 7:06 p.m. and arrive at the Calamba City Station at 9:32 p.m. (estimated time)
“The PNR serves only one [trip] in the morning going to Manila and one in the evening going to Laguna. You have to wake up as early as 3:30 a.m. to catch the morning trip because that train serves as the first and last trip going to Manila,” said 21-year-old Cabuyao City resident Ayan Quilitis.
“But I heard there will be an additional train trip in the morning. But still, it’s not enough,” added Quilitis, who is often late for work in Makati City because of the heavy traffic along the northbound lane of SLEX mainly caused by the ongoing Skyway extension project in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
June Canlas of Sta. Rosa City appealed to Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade to immediately act on the matter and help motorists and commuters ease the burden on the monstrous traffic along SLEX.
“We are asking the good office of Secretary Tugade to act on the problem. Please Mr. Secretary, this will be the best Christmas gift to us,” said Canlas.
Some residents also called on the Skyway management to hasten the construction of the extension project, which aggravated traffic conditions along SLEX, with travel time from Laguna now taking 3 to 5 hours.
The management, on the other hand, appealed to motorists to be patient and to bear with the temporary inconvenience.
San Miguel Corp. president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang made a promise recently that the traffic along SLEX would return to normal very soon.
The SMC’s Skyway Operations and Maintenance Corp. [Somco] is in charge of the P10-billion project which is expected to be finished by December next year.
Ang said the project, once completed, will ease traffic flow in the area for the next 10 to 15 years.
He said the extension project will raise the Skyway’s capacity by 4,500 vehicles per hour northbound, and 3,000 vehicles per hour southbound, giving motorists from Southern Luzon easier access to Metro Manila.