The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it expects the Manila to Malolos segment or Phase 1 of the North South Commuter Rail Project to become operational by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the acceleration of railway projects outside Metro Manila to alleviate road congestion.
“With the trains from Calamba to Clark, it will change the way people live and commute. That’s why the president is pushing everybody to work,” he said.
Dizon said the Manila to Clark segment is roughly at a little over 50-percent completion.
“However, we are confident that we can run Manila to Malolos by the end of 2026 or early 2027, and we are targeting all the way to Clark before the end of the president’s term,” he said.
NSCR is one of the key projects that would help decongest Metro Manila roads.
“With the NSCR, being one of the country’s biggest inter-provincial rail projects, Filipinos from Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila and Laguna can now go to and from these provinces in just a few minutes, or less than two hours max, if they take the full trip from Clark to Calamba,” the DOTr said.
It said the Clark to Calamba travel would be shortened from the four hours via road.
“NSCR is a comfortable, accessible, affordable, safe and environment-friendly rail transport that will positively impact our transport sector and the economy– generating jobs and decongesting Metro Manila traffic,” the DOTr said.
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, the National Capital Region and Calabarzon.
The project aims to serve over 800,000 passengers daily once it becomes fully operational.