THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said full operations for the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) will likely be four years delayed after hitting a 50% completion rate to date for the Manila-Clark segment.
“The estimate of our Japanese partners is a four-year delay. Our initial target completion date is 2027 for the full line to be operational,” Transportation Secretary Vivencio B. Dizon said in a radio interview Thursday.
In a separate briefing, Mr. Dizon said the DoTr is hoping that a segment of the NSCR will be operational by 2027.
“The NSCR is roughly at a little over 50% complete from Manila to Clark but we are confident that we can still run the Manila to Malolos by the end of 2026 or maybe early 2027… We will see these trains start to operate within the term of the President, not the full line but I think the line from Manila to Malolos,” he said.
The 147-kilometer NSCR will connect Malolos, Bulacan with Clark International Airport, and Tutuban, Manila with Calamba, Laguna. The P873-billion project is co-financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Asian Development Bank. It will have 35 stations and three depots.
“In fact, the trains are ready for delivery this year. However, the delays are due to civil works, and construction,” Mr. Dizon noted.
Once fully operational, the NSCR is projected to reduce travel time between Clark and Calamba to two hours, against the current four to 4.5 hours.
The DoTr has said that big-ticket railway projects will face major right-of-way acquisition issues.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has issued a legal opinion that compensation rules set by development partners for persons displaced by foreign-funded projects apply only if the loan agreement was signed prior to the effectivity of the Right-of-Way Act (Republic Act No. 10752).
The opinion was issued to clarify the compensation rules governing projects entered into by the DoTr and entities like the JICA. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
