LEGAZPI CITY?THE PHILIPpine National Railways (PNR) is getting $110 million from Korea to finish the rehabilitation of its Manila-Bicol line, a PNR official said on Wednesday.

Nicholas Priela, PNR chief executive, said the loan will come from the Korea Exim Bank and could be released anytime.

Two projects will be funded by the loan?the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project Phase II and the Bicol Commuter Service (BCS).

The BCS will provide commuter train services from Tagkawayan, Quezon to Guinobatan, Albay.

Ongoing works include construction of two rail bridges?San Cristobal and Travesia, replacement of wood ties with concrete ones, installation of communication lines between Quezon and Albay, and repair of two locomotives and five coaches.

The Naga PNR station, said Priela, has been improved. Commuter train services are currently being provided from the station covering the Ligao-Naga-Sipocot route.

PNR has relocated 34,718 squatters from railways to resettlement sites in Bulacan, Cavite, Muntinlupa and Laguna.

Priela said PNR, although operating only with a P135 million budget, has been meeting its yearly targets.

Last year, he said, revenue from railway operations grossed P17.4 million from P15.4 million in 2008.

PNR, he said, needs to spend at least P1.25 billion to restore full operations of its Manila-Legazpi line for passengers and freight.

The Southrail project was designed to complement a more controversial project started during the time of former President Fidel Ramos, the NorthRail.

NorthRail was designed to connect Metro Manila with the Clark International Airport but its construction has suffered hitches along the way, among them rising costs of materials.

It also ran into a wall of controversy after the Senate investigated allegations that the project, to be financed by the Chinese government and built by a Chinese firm, was overpriced. Mar S. Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon