The Philippine National Railways (PNR) said it is on track to commence partial operations of the initial segment of the massive P874-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project by 2028.
PNR general manager Deovanni Miranda said the construction of the NSCR’s first segment, from Malolos to Tutuban, is in its advanced stages.
He expects the operations of the Malolos to West Valenzuela to start by the fourth quarter of 2027 or early 2028.
Meanwhile, the Malolos to Clark and Manila to Calamba segments are on track for completion by 2029.
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 Department of Transportation (DOTr) said.
It said the Clark to Calamba travel would be shortened from the current four hours via road.
“NSCR is a comfortable, accessible, affordable, safe and environmentally 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.