North–South Commuter Railway

The Ferrocarril de Manila a Dagupan operated trains to and from Manila

During the Spanish and American colonial periods, the Manila Railway Company, later the Manila Railroad Company (MRR), operated various local trains between Manila and its neighboring provinces. By the 1920s, trains ran from Tutuban to Naic in Cavite, Pagsanjan in Laguna, Montalban in Rizal, and Bulacan.[18] The network was heavily damaged in the Battle of Manila during World War II,[19] but was mostly reestablished after the war.[20]

MRR would be succeeded by the Philippine National Railways (PNR) on June 20, 1964.[21] On April 6, 1970, PNR inaugurated the Metro Manila Commuter Service, which started at Manila North Harbor and ended in Biñan station in Laguna.[22] After numerous expansions, the commuter service served thousands of daily riders in its system and had an expansive network in and out of Metro Manila.[23] In 1978, at the request of the Philippine government, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted a study on the electrification of the commuter service.[24] The plan was made to keep up with the increasing demand for transportation in the region. It called for the replacement of the diesel-run trains and the electrification of the PNR commuter line. Two experts from the Japanese National Railways were sent to conduct the study.[24]

Services north of Manila started to decline in the 1980s. However, commuter services were briefly extended to Malolos starting in 1990 under the Metrotren project but later ceased in 1997.[25] Since then, railway services have been mostly confined to the south, with the contemporary Metro Commuter Line being predominantly aligned to the South Main Line.[26]

During the 1990s, President Fidel Ramos signed a memorandum of agreement with Juan Carlos I of Spain for the construction of a railway line from Manila to Clark in September 1994.[8] This would be known as the Manila–Clark rapid railway system. On August 24, 1995, North Luzon Railways Corporation (NLRC) was formed as a subsidiary of Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).[8] The NLRC then entered into an engineering, procurement and construction contract with the Spanish Railways Corporation on February 7, 1996, but the contract was later terminated on August 14, 1998, after the parties disagreed on the source of funding for the project.[8]

In September 1999, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) approved the railway project, with the initial phase covering a segment from Caloocan to Calumpit. The source of funding was to be the Obuchi Fund from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).[8] Pre-construction activities such as right-of-way clearing and relocation of affected informal settlers began, but a presidential directive later halted the clearing activities and the JBIC loan was not granted.[8]

Abandoned NorthRail columns in Malolos, Bulacan that have since been demolished.

Under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a successor to the Manila–Clark rapid railway system, the NorthRail project, an 80-kilometer (50-mile) rail line,[27] was conceived. On September 14, 2002, a memorandum of understanding was signed by NorthRail and China National Machinery and Equipment Group (CNMEG) for the project.[8] It was later approved on August 5, 2003.[8] The project was estimated to cost around US$500 million, and the funding was to be covered by a US$400 million loan from the Export–Import Bank of China, and the rest to be shouldered by the government through BCDA and NLRC.[8][9][28]

The project involved the upgrading of the existing single track to an elevated dual-track system, converting the rail gauge from narrow gauge to standard gauge, and linking Manila to Malolos in Bulacan and further on to Angeles City, Clark Special Economic Zone and Clark International Airport.[8] The first phase of the project covered the Caloocan to Malolos segment, which spans 32 kilometers (20 miles).[28] Before construction could start, the Philippine Senate raised concerns about alleged corruption in the project. Senator Franklin Drilon commissioned a study from the University of the Philippines, which recommended the cancellation of the railway's construction, citing anomalies in the bidding process and the Buyer Credit Loan Agreement (BCLA) with Exim China.[8] Despite the controversy, preparatory construction began in early November 2006. Civil and design works started in October 2007. Due to delays in the construction work, it was soon renegotiated with the Chinese government. Construction temporarily continued in January 2009 with the support of the North Luzon Railways Corporation.[8]

However, the NorthRail project would be formally cancelled in March 2011 during the presidency of Benigno Aquino III, due to persisting legal issues and allegations of overpricing and corruption.[9][12][10] Nonetheless, on September 2011, the government expressed its interest to restart the project with Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas stating that China was open to reconfiguring the project.[29][12] NEDA Director-General Arsenio Balisacan also stated that NorthRail would resume within the term of President Benigno Aquino III,[30] but despite the announcement the NorthRail project was permanently scrapped and replaced with the NSCR project,[31] although the Philippine government was still obligated to pay the corresponding loans. In March 2012, the Philippine Supreme Court authorized a lower court to hear the case for voiding the contract. Instead of paying the US$184 million owed by the government in 2012, the Department of Finance was to pay the Export-Import Bank of China four installments of US$46 million from September 2012 onwards.[30] On November 6, 2017, DOTr, BCDA, and North Luzon Railways reached an out-of-court settlement with Sinomach (formerly CNMEG), resolving the five-year dispute. It saved the government ₱5 billion in potential payment of claims to Sinomach, and hundreds of millions of pesos in legal fees and arbitration costs.[27]

The Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) ordered the deactivation of NLRC in May 2019. According to GCG, NLRC was "not producing the desired outcomes, no longer achieving the objectives and purposes for which it was designed and created, and not cost efficient and does not generate the level of social, physical and economic returns vis-à-vis the resource inputs."[32] On October 19, 2023, President Bongbong Marcos ordered the BCDA to act as the adminstrator and liquidator of NLRC and settle its liabilities.[33]

With the termination of the NorthRail project, the Department of Transportation and Communications considered restarting the project by commissioning a feasibility study by CPCS Transcom Ltd. of Canada. Part of the study examined having a Malolos–Tutuban–Calamba–Los Baños commuter line.[31][34] The feasibility study was still ongoing when the NEDA included the North–South Commuter Railway in the Metro Manila Dream Plan, which it approved in 2014.[35]

The plan for the NSCR, a component of the North–South Railway Project,[36] included the 37-kilometer (23-mile) NSCR Phase 1, an electrified narrow gauge[37] commuter railway from Tutuban to Malolos and funded through overseas development assistance; and the second phase which included the reconstruction of the Tutuban–Calamba commuter line and the rehabilitation of long-haul services with an extension up to Matnog, Sorsogon and a branch line from Calamba to Batangas. It was to be funded through a public–private partnership (PPP) scheme.[36][38][39]

On February 16, 2015, the NEDA board, chaired by President Benigno Aquino III, approved the NSCR Phase 1 project.[38][40] After President Aquino met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Japan in June 2015, Abe expressed his commitment to fund the project. On November 19, 2015, representatives of both countries exchanged notes on the project in the presence of Abe and Aquino.[14] JICA was chosen by the Japanese government to look into financing the project, and on November 27, seven months before Aquino would end his term, JICA and the Department of Finance signed a loan agreement worth ₱97.3 billion ($1.99 billion) for the financing of the first phase.[41][42][43]

The succeeding administration included the project under the Build! Build! Build! Infrastructure Program.[44] In addition, numerous changes to the project were made. The railway's gauge was changed to standard gauge,[45] and the railway was extended to New Clark City. In addition, the PPP scheme for the south commuter line was abandoned in favor of overseas development assistance from Japan.[46] On June 25, 2017, transportation secretary Arthur Tugade announced the new name for the project and unveiled the locations of the first five stations during a press tour of the old PNR line.[47]

On January 21, 2019, a loan agreement worth ₱80.47 billion (US$1.54 billion) for the North–South Commuter Railway Extension Project (NSCR-Ex), which includes the PNR Clark 2 and Calamba sections, was signed by JICA and the Department of Finance (DOF).[48] Another loan agreement worth ₱66.6 billion (US$1.3 billion) for the NSCR-Ex project was signed on July 11 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and DOF.[49] JICA would finance the electrical and mechanical systems as well as the trains for the PNR Clark 2 and Calamba sections, while ADB would finance the civil works.[50]

The loan for the civil works of PNR Calamba, worth ₱227 billion (US$4.3 billion), was approved by the ADB on June 9, 2022.[51] The loan agreement was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte and ADB on June 16.[52] Two more loan agreements were signed on February 9, 2023, during the working visit of President Bongbong Marcos in Japan.[53]

List of contractors

Contract package	Scope of work	Contractors	Date awarded	Notes
Tutuban–Malolos railway
CP 01	Construction of Solis–Bocaue section	Taisei Corporation DMCI Holdings	May 2019[54]	VSL International, a subsidiary of Bouygues was appointed as the subcontractor for the construction of the viaduct.[55]
		TBD for Section 1		During the contract negotiations, it was agreed that the project would be divided into three sections. However, the joint venture withdrew from the first section of the contract in May 2023 due to right-of-way issues.[56]
CP 02	Construction of Bocaue–Malolos section	Sumitomo Mitsui Construction[57]	December 2018
CP 03	Rolling stock for Tutuban–Malolos railway	J-TREC	July 2019
CP 04[58]	Electrical and mechanical (E&M) systems	Hitachi Rail STS	November 2022[2]
CP 05	Construction of Tutuban–Solis section	TBD		Ongoing bidding[59]
Malolos–Clark railway
N-01	Construction of Malolos–San Simon section	Megawide Construction Corporation Hyundai Engineering & Construction Dong-ah Geological Engineering Company	September 2020[60][61]
N-02	Construction of Santo Tomas–San Fernando, Pampanga section	Acciona Daelim Industrial	October 2020[62]
N-03	Construction of Mexico–Clark (Mabalacat) section	Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited
N-04	Construction of Clark (Mabalacat)–Clark International Airport section	EEI Corporation Acciona	August 2020[63]
N-05	Construction of 33-hectare (82-acre) depot and main operations control center in Mabalacat	POSCO
S-01	Construction of Solis–Blumentritt section (Blumentritt extension)	PT Adhi Karya PT PP	February 2023[64][65]
Manila–Calamba (South Commuter) railway
S-02	Construction of Blumentritt–Paco section	DMCI Holdings Acciona	February 2023[64][66]
S-03a	Construction of Paco–Senate section	Leighton Contractors (Asia) First Balfour	June 2023[67]
S-03b	Construction of Senate–FTI section and tunneling works to MMSP Senate station		February 2023[68]
S-03c	Construction of FTI–Sucat section	PT Adhi Karya PT PP	June 2023[69]
S-04	Construction of Sucat–San Pedro section	Hyundai Engineering & Construction Dong-ah Geological Engineering Company	September 2022[17][70]
S-05	Construction of San Pedro–Cabuyao section		September 2022[17][71]
S-06	Construction of Cabuyao–Calamba section		September 2022[17][72]
S-07	Construction of Banlic depot	Lotte Engineering & Construction Gülermak EEI Corporation	September 2022[17][73]
Other associated contracts
NS-01	Electrical and mechanical (E&M) systems for Malolos–Clark and Manila–Calamba railways	Mitsubishi Corporation Alstom Colas Rail	February 2023[3]
NS-02	Commuter rolling stock for Malolos–Clark and Manila–Calamba railways	J-TREC	January 2022[74][75]
NS-03	Limited express trains	Mitsubishi Corporation Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles	October 2023[76]

Construction of PNR Clark 1 in Meycauayan, Bulacan in March 2022

Construction of PNR Clark 2 in Mabalacat, Pampanga in October 2022

Pre-construction works such as clearing of the right of way started on January 5, 2018.[77] The North–South Commuter Railway is being built in three phases and divided into two primary sections:

• PNR Clark — This is the northern section of the NSCR. Construction was divided into two phases. PNR Clark 1 involves the 38-kilometer (24-mile) Tutuban–Malolos railway, while PNR Clark 2 involves the 53-kilometer (33-mile) Malolos–Clark railway. The 91-kilometer (57-mile) railway line, when fully completed, will run from Tutuban station in Manila to New Clark City station within the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone, with a link to Clark International Airport.[78][79]
• PNR Calamba — Also known as PNR Clark Phase 3,[80] PNR Calamba is the southern section of the NSCR. It involves the reconstruction of the existing Metro Commuter Line as an electrified standard gauge railway with elevated, at-grade, and depressed sections.[81][82] The 56-kilometer (35-mile) railway will run from Solis station in Manila to Calamba station in Laguna.

The groundbreaking of PNR Clark 1 was held on February 15, 2019, and construction started after.[15] Meanwhile, the groundbreaking of PNR Clark 2 was held on September 18, 2021.[50] PNR Clark is expected to start partial operations in October 2022, with full operations in 2024.[83] As of December 2021, PNR Clark 1 is 51.3% complete, while PNR Clark 2 is 32% complete as of September 2021.[84][85]

Construction of NSCR South began on July 3, 2023, following the closure of the Calamba–Alabang commuter services the previous day.[86] It expects partial operations by 2025 and full operations by March 2029.[87][17]

There are four classes of services on this line. The following are:[92]

• Commuter is the basic commuter rail service and has the least priority. It stops at all stations within its route. There are three routes planned for this class; Tutuban–New Clark City, Tutuban–Calamba, and Clark International Airport–Calamba. The maximum speed for this service will be 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour) for the entire line.
• Commuter Express is the limited-stop service for the line, succeeding the Commex service during the Metrotren era in the early 2000s. Although it will run faster than regular commuter trains, it will still use the same routes and rolling stock.
• The Airport Limited Express is the temporary designation for the planned airport rail link and limited express service between Clark International Airport and Alabang station. As the flagship NSCR service, it will use dedicated rolling stock complete with intercity-grade amenities plus baggage space for people arriving from the airport. It will have a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour) along the NSCR North. As of January 2022, the final name for the service is yet to be determined.
• Subway through-service is the proposed augmentation between the NSCR and the Metro Manila Subway. It will serve the southernmost areas of Metro Manila and neighboring Laguna, branching from the subway line at FTI station while the remainder of the line will go towards the direction of NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay. It will use the Subway trainsets instead of the NSCR ones, although both are from the Sustina family.

The Metro Manila Dream Plan proposed a 38-kilometer (24-mile) branch line that will split in Angeles City. The line will have 12 stations and shall end in Tarlac City.[97] The study also proposed a 47-kilometer (29-mile) extension of the NSCR to Batangas City.[97] This will be built parallel to the PNR South Long Haul project which was approved in 2017, with the line being a single-track, standard gauge line without electrification, and will be built at-grade similar to the present PNR network.[98] The PNR has also requested for a feasibility study for a commuter line connecting Tarlac City and San Jose, Nueva Ecija in 2019. The length of the line and the number of stations will be determined once a proposal has been submitted.[99] Another proposed southward extension to Pansol in Calamba, Laguna was proposed by a 2019 JICA report.[100]

The North–South Commuter Railway will also have provisions for infill stations: Malabon, Valenzuela Polo, Tabing Ilog, Tuktukan, and Malolos South.[92]

All stations will have a standard layout, with a concourse level and a platform level. The stations are designed to adhere to both Philippine and Japanese standards.[92] Stations will either have island platforms or side platforms with platform screen doors. The stations are designed to be barrier-free, and trains shall have spaces for passengers using wheelchairs. Historical stations will be preserved.[101] All stations will have access to intermodal facilities.[92] The FTI station in particular will be connected to the Taguig Integrated Terminal Exchange.[102]

The North–South Commuter Railway will have two types of rolling stock: commuter trains and airport express trains. With the exception of wheelchair spaces, the commuter trains will have a capacity of 2,242 passengers. The express trains, on the other hand, will have a capacity of 392 passengers.[103] A total of 464 electric multiple unit traincars have been procured to operate on the line, with 104 of these being the 8-car EM10000 class trainsets to be built by the Japan Transport Engineering Company (J-TREC), successor to the Tokyu Car Corporation that provided rolling stock to the Philippines from 1955 to 1976. The trainsets were previously named as the Sustina Commuter at the time of purchase, and are based on JR East commuter stock such as the E233 series but adapted to standard gauge.[lower-alpha 6] The trains are also designed to be interoperable with the Metro Manila Subway.[104] The trainsets have been designated as the EM10000 class in October 2021.[105] The first batch of the commuter trains arrived on November 21, 2021.[106] The bidding for an order for 304 more commuter cars in a separate contract was opened in September 2020, with J-TREC also winning the contract on January 14, 2022.[107] The first EM10000 class train was unveiled on March 18,[108] and the contract for the 304 cars was signed on the same day. The overall deliveries of the commuter trains are set to be completed by September 2028.[109]

The procurement for the 56 airport express trainsets began on February 26, 2021, with a suggested preliminary design based on the E259 and E353 series being published on the same day.[103] On May 10, the Department of Transportation later announced it will acquire the airport express trainsets from Japanese manufacturers.[110] After several months of delays and rescheduling, three bidders have submitted their designs on October 15: Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Sojitz, Marubeni and Stadler Rail, and Mitsubishi and Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).[111] In October 2023, Mitsubishi and CAF, also the manufacturers of the LRTA 13000 class trains on the LRT Line 1, were awarded the contract for the express trains.[76]

Rolling stock	Commuter trains[92][112][1]	Airport express trains[103][113]
Image
Year	Batch 1: Fiscal 2022 Batch 2: 2025–2028[109]	TBD
Manufacturer	J-TREC	Mitsubishi and CAF
Model	EM10000 class (first batch) TBD (second batch)	TBD
Number to be built	First batch: 104 cars (13 sets) Second batch: 304 cars (38 sets)	56 cars (7 sets)
Order no.	CP 03 (first batch) CP NS-02 (second batch)	CP NS-03
Formation	8 cars per trainset
Car length	20 m (65 ft 7 in)
Width	2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)
Pantograph lockdown height	4.15 m (13 ft 7 in)
Floor height	1.13–1.15 m (3 ft 8 in – 3 ft 9 in)
Body material	Lightweight stainless steel	Aluminum alloy and stainless steel
Tare weight	270 t (600,000 lb)	315 t (694,000 lb)
Axle load	16 t (35,000 lb)
Capacity	Leading car: 266 standing, 45 seated Intermediate car: 285 standing, 54 seated	Leading car: 40 seated Intermediate car: 52 seated PWD seating: 8 wheelchair spaces
Seat layout	Rapid transit-style longitudinal seating	Airline-style open coach seating
Doors per side	4	2
Traction control	IGBT–VVVF (first batch) Hybrid SiC–VVVF (second batch)	Hybrid SiC–VVVF
Traction power	1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Pantograph type	1 single-arm pantograph	Toyo Denki 2 single-arm pantographs, outward facing
Top speed	120 km/h (75 mph)	≥170 km/h (110 mph)
Train configuration	Tc–M–M–T–T–M–M–Tc	Tc–M–M–M–M–M–M–Tc
Other features	—	Toilets, luggage racks
Status	First batch: Under construction/delivery[106] Second batch: Ordered; to be built[109]	Ordered; to be built

Initially, the PNR Clark 1 section of the line was set to use a communications-based train control (CBTC) system.[112] The line will instead use a signalling system based on ETCS Level 2. The subsystems consist of automatic train control (ATC), automatic train protection (ATP), automatic train supervision (ATS), train detection through track circuits, and computer-based interlocking, with provisions for automatic train operation (ATO).[114]

For Phase 1 between Tutuban and Malolos, Hitachi's Italian subsidiary Hitachi Rail STS will be the provider of ETCS Level 2 equipment as part of a contract package covering electrical and mechanical systems, and track works.[2] For Phase 2 between and the NSCR South, Alstom will use its Atlas 200 system for Level 2 signalling.[4]

The line will feature an Elastic Sleeper Direct Fasten (ESDF) type ballastless track with concrete sleepers in the mainline and plastic/fiber-reinforced foam urethane railroad ties on turnouts in the mainline and depot.[114] Continuous welded rails will be employed on the mainline, while jointed rails with fishplates will be employed in the depot. 60-kilogram-per-meter (120-pound-per-yard) rails will be employed in the mainline while rails built to the JIS 50N rail profile will be used in the depot.[114]