The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will mark today the future sites of five stations of the Manila-Clark Railway Project which will connect Manila to Central Luzon.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade will lead other government officials in the marking ceremony for five of the 17 stations: Marilao and Meycauayan in Bulacan province; and Valenzuela, Caloocan and Tutuban in Metro Manila.
According to a DOTr statement, the 106-kilometer railway project running from Tutuban in Manila to the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga is among the “high-impact” projects of President Duterte under the government’s “Build Build Build” infrastructure program.
“This big project, it used to be just all talk. But under the Duterte administration, we will make it a reality. For the first time, a rail project will connect Manila to Central Luzon and it will be completed under the Duterte administration,” Tugade said.
The rail project, once completed, would reduce the two-hour travel time from Manila to Clark to just 55 minutes. The rail system would also benefit 350,000 passengers daily in its first year of operations.
On top of the five stations, the 12 others are Solis, Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Malolos, Calumpit, Apalit, San Fernando, Angeles, Clark, Clark International Airport and the proposed New Clark City in Pampanga.
According to the DOTr, construction of the new project will start in the last quarter of 2017 and is expected to be completed by the last quarter of 2021.
The project costs P255 billion and will be funded through Japan’s Official Development Assistance.
The whole line will have 13 train sets with eight cars or coaches per train set. Each train can reach a maximum speed of 120 km per hour.
For his part, Philippine National Railways General Manager Junn Magno said the project would decongest Metro Manila and spread economic gains throughout the country.
“This project will ease traffic congestion and help thousands of commuters coming from Bulacan and Pampanga who travel daily to their workplaces or schools in Metro Manila,” he added.
Aside from Tugade and Magno, also expected to attend the stations-marking ceremonies are Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ernesto Pernia and officials from the Japanese Embassy and Japan International Cooperation Agency.