Conversion of PNR line into hybrid railway backed

MANILA, Philippines — The provincial government of Batangas has expressed support for the bid of a local company to convert the decommissioned Philippine National Railway (PNR) alignment from Calamba City to Batangas City into a Hybrid Electric Road Train (HERT) line that can transport people and agricultural produce around Southern Tagalog.

Provincial administrator Librado Dimaunahan has signified the local government’s support to revive the PNR alignment using the HERT mass transport technology developed by the Department of Science and Technology-Metals Industry Research and Development Center, according to Francis Yuseco Jr., chief executive officer of the Philippine Digital Trackway consortium.

“The conversion of the Calamba-Batangas PNR line into a digital trackway will accelerate economic activity, especially in Calabarzon,” Dimaunahan said in a letter to Yuseco dated Feb. 15, 2021.

Yuseco’s company is renewing its bid to revive old, decommissioned government rail lines such as the PNR and the Panay Railways Inc. on Panay Island after getting a fresh infusion of foreign capital.

The company recentlly signed  a $200-million agreement with the US firm Davidson Single Family Private Equity  to finance the project.