Chinese firms eye North Rail project

CABANATUAN CITY – A number of Chinese investors have expressed their interest to bankroll the construction of the $1.5-billion, 100-kilometer Manila-Clark Rapid Railways System (MCRRS) project under the build-transfer (BT) scheme.

Undersecretary Renato Diaz, the presidential assistant for North Luzon, told reportes that the North Rail Corp. (NRC) is now evaluating proposals from the China-based companies which want to undertake the project under the build-transfer (BT) scheme.

Diaz said one of these companies, China Machineries, has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the MCRRS, also known as the North Rail project in the presence of President Arroyo and Chinese Premier Li Peng.

Diaz said the right-of-way (ROW) problem has already been addressed through the help of the Register of Deeds and the Land Registration Authority (LRA). "I would like to commend the Register of Deeds and the LRA under Administrator Benedicto Ulep for having fast-tracked all mortgages on the land in just one day. Never before in Philippine history has this happened," he said.

Last January, a Canadian construction firm, the Canadian Rail and Aviation Corp. (CRAC) expressed interest in taking the lead role in the consortium that would implement construction of MCRRS, a major railway project that would link Metro Manila to Clark. The consortium would also include Bombardier Transportation, the world leader in the development and supply of integrated transportation systems and services and Canadian National Railway Corp. (CANAC) whom he described as one of the biggest and profitable companies in the world.

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. is pushing a Luzon railway system that would extend beyond Clark to the Ilocos region.

Last year, a consortium composed of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), the Philippine National Railways (PNR), DMCI Holdings, Inc., Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. (FBDC) and a Spanish railway group was reported to be eyeing the project.

Several Japanese companies had also joined the previous consortium, including Mitsui and Co. Ltd., Nishimatsu Construction Co. Ltd. and Fil-Estate Management, Inc. (FMI).

Railway systems provide efficient, cheap and comfortable travel to the masses. The government-owned Philippine National Railway (PNR) used to provide mass transport with its trains running at speed of 40 kilometers per hour. Its service, however, deteriorated in 1954.

It was learned that the Philippines pales in comparison with other countries in terms of the efficiency of the railway system. Among countries with progressive railway systems are Malaysia which has a railway spanning 1,800 kilometers, Thailand (3,940 km), Vietnam (2,652 km), Cambodia (603 km) and the island-state of Singapore (38.6 km).