The Department of Transportation (DoTr) is planning to build 19 more stations along the massive PNR Calamba train line next year.
The 179 railway stations that will be operational, contracted, or under construction by 2022 are an important component of the DoTr’s railway network expansion program because stations make a railway more accessible to the public.
During the inspection of the PNR Balagtas Station on December 2, Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan stated that by June 2022, the DoTr would have increased the number of operational stations from 61 to 87 stations, and the number of contracted and ongoing construction would have increased from zero to 92 stations.
“The 179 railway stations operational, contracted, and ongoing construction by 2022 is a critical component of the DoTr’s railway network expansion program because it is at stations that a railway becomes more accessible to the people,” Baran said.
Batan, who heads the DoTr’s railway division, also revealed that nine contracts for the rail line’s southern segment are nearly complete.
“The first six contracts already ongoing ADB’s review for concurrence, following which the contracts will be awarded and signed, and construction will very soon be mobilized,” he explained.
Metro Manila is linked to six cities in Laguna by the PNR Calamba train line. The new train line will reduce the four-hour travel time from Tondo, Manila, to Calamba, Laguna, to just one hour.
The project is part of the 148-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway, which the DoTr says will be completed in 2028 and partially operational in 2025.
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