Mindanao, Clark train projects up for Palace OK

The initial phase of the railway aimed at connecting key cities in Mindanao island will be up for President Duterte’s go-ahead later this month after the National Economic and Development Authority’s Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom) approved the project on Thursday.

After the joint meeting of the ICC-CabCom and technical board, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia told the Inquirer that they had approved the Mindanao Railway Project’s over 100-kilometer Tagum-Davao-Digos segment.

But Pernia, who is also chief of Neda, said the project cost and other details of the project would still be subject to confirmation and reconciliation with the Department of Transportation, the project’s proponent.

Pernia said the Mindanao Railway Project would be part of the agenda at the Neda Board meeting, tentatively scheduled on June 26. The President chairs the Neda Board.

Neda Undersecretary Rolando G. Tungpalan last month said the government was planning to finance the Mindanao Railway through the national budget in order to fast-track rollout.

Tungpalan had said the “circumferential” phase of the railway would be prioritized due to “high traffic” in the island’s major cities. Although there was also a plan to have it branch out to the Zamboanga peninsula.

Neda earlier said the proposed 2,000-kilometer Mindanao Railway would connect the island’s growth centers through the construction of modern railroad tracks, operation of state-of-the-art rolling stocks, and the construction of terminals in strategic areas.

Pernia said Neda-ICC also approved during its Thursday meeting the commuter line of the south line of the North-South Railway Project (NSRP) as well as the high-speed rail extending the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) to the planned Clark Green City.

Pernia last month placed the project cost of the NSRP commuter line extending to Los Baños, Laguna, at $2.7 billion, while the high-speed train system from the NSCR in Malolos, Bulacan, to Clark was set at $1.9 billion.