“… the ‘airport express service’ provides relief to businessmen and other travelers. It expands their flight options.”
Finally, a railway link to the country’s premier airports.
The news that the North South Commuter Railway (NSCR) will have a world-class airport express service is a boon to travelers, who take domestic and international flights for their business or vacation destinations.
The NSCR is a 147-kilometer railway system that is now being built by the Department of Transportation (DOTr). Once completed, the system will connect the Clark International Airport at the New Clark City in the Pampanga-Tarlac area with the National Capital Region (NCR) and up to Calamba in the south.
DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Jeremy Regino in March announced that sections of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) line would stop operating to give way to the full-blast construction of the NCR portion of the NSCR.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista also revealed a bit of good news—the NSCR will include a “limited” airport express service.
This means the trains in this service may not be running the whole day, but only on certain schedule. The option, unlike the regular commuter service component of the NSCR, will not be stopping by each of its more than 30 stations.
Still, the “airport express service” provides relief to businessmen and other travelers. It expands their flight options.
As I’ve written here, airports with railway links are a must. Take the case of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
A modern NAIA with a much bigger passenger capacity will certainly contribute to the traffic logjam in Metro Manila, unless its proponent offers a solution to address the gridlock it will create.
NAIA and its increased passenger capacity should not contribute to traffic congestion, if it takes advantage of available railway links.
Modern urban centers in the world build and design their airports with a rail link to improve the accessibility of passengers to downtown areas, or in some cases, suburbs or distant cities
In the case of Clark, air travelers can opt to take their flights out of Clark International Airport. They can leave their cars and simply take a modern, comfortable train ride to the airport.
Travel time with an express rail service, moreover, is more predictable. Mr. Bautista says a trip from Makati to the Clark airport will be cut by half.
The Clark airport for now may not be the ideal choice for executives based in the major business hubs in the NCR.
On average, it may take them close to three hours to navigate the route because of the traffic jam in EDSA and the occasional heavy vehicle volume at the North Luzon Expressway.
The international airport at Clark, however, offers a number of advantages. A good number of so-called budget airlines use it to bring passengers to several local and international destinations.
Some of the pricier carriers land there. Among them are our own Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Airways.
The list also includes airlines with business class cabins like EVAA, Emirates, Asiana and Qatar Airways. And then there are the no-frills airlines, like Air Asia, Scoot, Jeju Air, Air Swift, Air Busan, Starlux Airlines and Sunlight Air.
Another reason to use the Clark airport is its modern, winning design. Late last year, the airport won the international World Architecture and Design Award or “Prix Versailles.” The award was given by UNESCO as a recognition of Clark’s being “one of the most beautiful airports in the world.”
The airport has a capacity of eight million passengers per annum. A total of about two million passengers took their flight and landed at Clark last year.
Arrey Perez, president of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIA), said the gateway aims to raise that number to four million this year.
New routes include Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, General Santos for local destinations; and Bangkok, Cheongju and Narita for inernational flights.
The biggest boost is the airport express service of the railway project.
Bautista says trains that will be used here can run at a speed of up to 160 kilometers per hour. Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. will supply the trains for the service, in tie-up with Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocariles (CAF) of Spain for the design.
The express service, for that matter, is one way of declogging traffic along major expressways.
E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or extrastory2000@gmail.com
