Flood control scandal fails to dampen investors’ interest in NSCR O&M auction
Department of Transportation (DOTr) acting Secretary Giovanni Lopez said the appetite of local and foreign investors for the P874-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) System operations and maintenance (O&M) auction remains strong despite the flood control corruption scandal.
Lopez cited the difference between the agency’s projects and those of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), saying that their projects—many of which receive official development assistance (ODA) funding—are governed by distinct internal controls, processes and checks and balances.
“For me, I can say its 100-percent free of corruption,” he said.
The agency previously reported significant interest from numerous local and foreign firms for the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) operations and maintenance (O&M) bid. Interested companies include Mitsubishi Corp., Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo Metro, Sumitomo Corp., Alstom Japan, and French rail operators, among others.
The DOTr conducted market sounding activities for the NSCR System in Japan, Singapore, France and Manila.
Lopez said the bidding process for the NSCR O&M contract would commence either in the last week of October or the first week of November, as advised by the agency’s transaction adviser, the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The NSCR System market sounding in Japan is the fourth of a series, which was previously held in Singapore, France and Manila.
NSCR is one of the key projects that would help decongest Metro Manila roads. A flagship project under the “Build Better More” program, it is a mega railway network spanning 148 km., with 37 stations and 464 train cars and encompassing three segments―the PNR Clark Phase 1 (Tutuban-Malolos), PNR Clark Phase 2 (Malolos-Clark) and PNR Calamba (Solis-Calamba).
The mass transport project will run across 26 cities and municipalities in Central Luzon, National Capital Region and Calabarzon.
The project aims to serve over 800,000 passengers daily once it becomes fully operational. The Clark to Valenzuela segment of the NSCR System will start operations by 2028.
As of June 2025, the Malolos-Clark Railway Projec is already 42.4-percent complete. Once operational by 2028, it is expected to reduce the almost three-hour bus ride between Malolos and Clark to just an hour by train.
Another segment of the NSCR System supported by the ADB is the 56.86-km South Commuter Railway Project (SCRP) connecting Manila to Calamba. Once operational, it is expected to reduce travel time from up to 2 hours by bus to just 45 minutes by train.
