(Eagle News) — The Department of Transportation has signed a contract for 304 additional trains for the North-South Commuter Railway Project.
The DOTr made the statement after announcing the government’s largest flagship project under the “Build, Build, Build” Program “made a huge headway” following the unveiling of the first-ever eight-car Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) for the PNR Clark Phase 1 (Tutuban-Malolos).
According to the department, the 8-car train set measures 160 meters in length, and has an operational speed of 120kp.
Over 2,228 passengers per train set can be served.
“Hindi lilipad the way we wanted to be ang mga proyektong nasyonal kung walang partnership ang local government,” Transportation Secretary Art Tugade said.
The DOTr said the NSCR encompasses three segments: the PNR Clark Phase 1 (Tutuban – Malolos)—a 38-km. rail line that will connect Tutuban, Manila to Malolos, Bulacan, and will significantly reduce travel time from 1 hour and 30 minutes to just 30 minutes.
The PNR Clark Phase 2 (Malolos-Clark) involves a 53-km rail line leg that will trim down travel time from Malolos City, Bulacan to Clark, Pampanga from 2 hours to 30-35 minutes.
“It will also feature the first-ever Airport Railway Express Service that will connect Makati City to Clark International Airport from the current 2-3 hours travel time to just 55 minutes,” the DOTr said.
The third NSCR segment, meanwhile, is PNR Calamba (Solis-Calamba), a 56-kilometer train line that will connect Metro Manila (Solis Street, Tondo) and Calamba, Laguna.
The department said it will speed up travel time to one hour, from the current four hours.
The NSCR Project is a 147-km rail transport route, comprising 37 stations and 464 train cars.
According to the DOTr, the project stretches across 28 cities and municipalities within the three regions of Central Luzon, National Capital Region, and CALABARZON, and is expected to serve over a million passengers a day, once fully operational.