MABALACAT CITY -- The Philippine National Railway (PNR) Clark Phase 1 is expected to serve more than 300,000 passengers once completed, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said.
Fidel Cruz, DoTr assistant secretary for Railways, inspected the project recently and learned that six segments have already been casted at the Calumpit Main Site Yard – a 14-hectare property that serves as the main production site for the precast span for the project’s Contract Package 2.
About 12 to 15 pieces of precast segments will cover the railway from Pier to Pier Viaduct, according to the DoTr.
PNR Clark Phase 1 is a 38-kilometer mass railway transportation that will connect Tutuban in Manila to Malolos in nearby Bulacan province. It is part of the North-South Commuter Railway NSCR being implemented by the government under the Build Build Build infrastructure program.
Once operational, the elevated railway will reduce travel time between Manila and Bulacan from one hour and 30 minutes to just 35 minutes, the agency disclosed.
PNR Clark Phase 2, on the other hand, is a 53-kilometer segment from Malolos, Bulacan to Clark Freeport. This also form part of the NSCR. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2022.
PNR Clark Phase 2, once completed, will reduce travel time between Malolos, Bulacan and Clark International Airport to half hour.
DoTr Secretary Arthur Tugade earlier assured that the railway system project will be realized.
“We will realize it with the partnership of Japan government. We will achive it using the Japanese business like all other Japanese companies that are helping us using their technology,” Tugade said.
The agency is aiming to extend the country’s 77 kilometers of existing railways to 1,900 kilometers, Tugade said.