‘North-South rail projects to create thousands of jobs’

MANILA, Philippines — The implementation of the North-South Commuter Railway Extension Project is expected to create thousands of jobs for Filipinos, President Marcos said yesterday, as he expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for its support to the country’s infrastructure development.

Marcos made the remark during the signing of the contract package of the electromechanical systems and track works for the North-South Commuter Railway System (NSCRS) at Malacañang.

“We recognize the fact that an efficient transportation system will have a multiplier effect on employment and on the economy. Beyond improving our transportation system, the implementation of civil works for the CP NS-01 will also generate thousands of jobs for Filipinos during construction,” the President said in a speech.

The CP NS-01 includes the procurement of railway infrastructure projects for the Malolos-Clark Railway Project and the North-South Railway Project-South Line (Commuter), collectively known as the North-South Commuter Railway Extension Project.

The contract package includes railway tracks, turnouts, track sleepers, power supply and distribution systems, signaling systems, automated fare collection, computerized management maintenance and platform screen doors, among other essentials for railway safety and operations.

The signees of the contract include Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and Mitsubishi Corp. executive vice president Koji Ota. Also present at the event were Speaker Martin Romualdez, French Ambassador Michèle Boccoz, Economic Minister of the Embassy of Japan Nihei Daisuke and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Chief Representative Takema Sakamoto.

The NSCRS is a 147.26-kilometer railway project that will connect Clark, Pampanga and Calamba City in Laguna. It is composed of the original NSCR Project, Malolos-Clark Railway Project and North-South Railway Project-South Line Commuter, also known as the South Commuter Railway Project.

Once completed, the NSCR will significantly reduce travel time between Clark International Airport and Calamba City from four to two hours.

It is projected to accommodate 800,000 passengers a day.

The NSCR has a total project cost of P873.62 billion and will be co-financed by JICA and the Asian Development Bank.

Marcos said the railway project would also strengthen the country’s supply chain.

The President thanked the Japanese government for the financial support in the implementation of CP NS-01 and for being active partners in the country’s infrastructure development.

“We are glad to have you with us as we continue to strengthen our relations built on mutual confidence and cooperation, a relationship that has gone on for many decades and I can say without fear of contradiction that the development of the Philippines, especially in terms of infrastructure, has shown that Japan has taken a very important part in that,” he said.

Marcos said Japan serves as a key inspiration for the Philippines for having an efficient rail transport system.

“I was joking Mr. Sakamoto earlier and I said, now that we have this, maybe the next one is Shinkansen (bullet trains) already, we can have (it) in the Philippines,” the Chief Executive said.

“So I thank Mitsubishi Corporation for working with the Philippine government on Contract Package NS-01,” he added.

Marcos also expressed hope the Department of Transportation and Mitsubishi Corp. would be able to finish the contract package by 2028, the end of his six-year term.