The Philippine National Railways (PNR) is set to spend P1.2 billion next year for the further development of its commuter train service within Metro Manila as well as improvements in the “Bicol Express” to Naga.
PNR General Manager Junio Ragragrio said the agency was also looking for other funding sources, both locally and overseas, that would help it increase the capacity of its train lines and improve services to commuters.
“There are still a lot of improvements that can be made. We can still develop the stations in Metro Manila and the tracks to Bicol still need work,” he said in an interview. He said the P1.2-billion capital expenditure program for next year would likely come from the 2012 national budget.
For the Metro Manila commuter service, he said the goal was to increase the number of trains, which would lead to more trips to serve passengers.
Right now, the PNR commuter trains from Tutuban in Manila to Alabang in Muntinlupa arrive at stations every half hour during peak hours, and every hour during nonpeak hours.
This was a far cry from other commuter trains in Metro Manila, which have trips every three minutes.
“What we want is to maybe have it every 15 minutes during peak hours and every half hour during the rest of the day,” he said. “We are also considering extending operations up to 8 p.m.,” he said, from the current 6 p.m.
To do this, he said the PNR would continue to look for donations of old trains from abroad, which are cheaper and are good enough for the country’s needs, given its meager resources. The PNR recently received a donation from the Japanese government of 20 used train cars, while 30 more are set to arrive before the year ends.
He said the Italian government has expressed willingness to donate about 10 used train cars, which have a depreciated value of about $300,000. Brand-new, these train cars would cost as much as $4 million each.
Another possibility with the Italian government was the signing of an environmental “swapping” arrangement.