The government plans to bid out next year the Japan-funded North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) that will connect Malolos, Bulacan to Tutuban in Manila in order to start operations four to five years from now.
With the design of the railway expected to be completed by June, the bidding for the construction of the rail system is slated in 2018, Mikaela Eloisa D. Mendoza, project development officer at the Department of Transportation, told reporters during a briefing led by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
Mendoza said actual construction would start in the first half of 2019.
According to a Jica briefing paper, the Philippine government targets to commence operations of the NSCR by 2021 or 2022.
The 38-kilometer NSCR serves as the north line of the North-South Railway Project, whose south line will connect Tutuban to Matnog, Sorsogon.
The NSCR will be constructed using a record-high $2.42-billion official development assistance (ODA) from Japan. The total project cost is about $2.88 billion.
The NSCR will have 10 elevated stations which, besides Malolos and Tutuban, include Guiguinto, Balagtas, Bocaue, Marilao and Meycauyan in Bulacan as well as Valenzuela, Caloocan and Solis in Metro Manila.
According to project manager Munehiko Miyata, the NSCR will cut travel time from Malolos to Tutuban to 35 minutes, with a six-minute headway operation that would facilitate punctual and reliable transit even during rush hours.
Also, the rail system will have a “comfortable commuter service with brand-new electrified train and barrier-free design for train and station building,” Miyata said.
The NSCR will also have a “reliable operation by applying maintenance system with reference to Japan’s commuter railway operation know-how,” Miyata added.
Mendoza said the DOTr and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corp. for Transport and Urban Development (Join) were conducting a feasibility study for the plan to also connect NSCR to the proposed Manila-Clark high-speed train system.