OPINION
Advocates Philippines
Can PH Rail System Catch Up With SE Asia's Best?
FILE
The Marcos government appears to have placed the development of modern rail-based transportation systems at the forefront of its strategy to ease traffic and speed up the flow of people and goods in various parts of the country.
The move is creating ripples of optimism and creating hopes that the Philippines can soon catch up with the rest of its neighbors in Southeast Asia in terms of transportation efficiency.
Just recently, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista recently announced that the country’s rail transportation system is set to be “digitalized” as the Philippines envisions a “solid and fully connected, technology-stacked rail sector.
Bautista made the statement at a conference on upskilling workers for the digital age, where he said the Philippines is “taking significant strides towards revolutionizing its railway system”. The DOTr head echoed an earlier commitment made by President Bongbong Marcos Jr. that his administration “vows to continue to modernize and improve the country’s transportation system”.
Marcos made the statement at a contract signing ceremony last year in connection with the administration’s mammoth North South Commuter Railways (NSCR) project, the 147-kilometer rail-based system connecting Calamba City and New Clark City and which will pass through traffic-choked portions of the National Capital Region.
The NSCR, seen to be operational by 2029, will feature an airport express service with trains that will run at a speed of up to 160 kilometers per hour (kph). This service promises to cut by more than the travel time to Clark International Airport. It also stands to give the Philippines one of the fastest trains running on a Southeast Asian railway.
The NSCR also promises to revive a rail transportation sector that has languished at the bottom of the ranking in the region.
Last in SEA, Asia
Based on reports released by the World Economic Forum, the Philippines is at the cellar in terms of the quality of rail transportation infrastructure. In the roster of SE Asian countries, it tails Thailand and Vietnam in a seven-country ranking topped by Singapore and Malaysia.
In the 25-country listing for the whole of Asia, the Philippines is also at the bottom, lagging behind countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Japan and Hong Kong are at the top of the ladder.
Worldwide, the quality of the country’s rail transportation infrastructure is at the 86th spot in a list of 101 countries, slightly ahead of the likes Zambia, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. Japan tops the list with Hong Kong and Switzerland right behind at second and third, respectively.
According to the World Economic Forum report, the quality of rail transportation infrastructure indicator is one of the components of the Global Competitiveness index which it publishes annually. The index shows how much ability a country has to attract investors, and to make investors decide to put their money there.
The poor ranking of the Philippines in this category leads to the question, “what ever happened to the country’s erstwhile extensive rail system, and why did the remains of that system languish in apparent neglect?”
Historical accounts indicate that the country once had a 190-plus kilometer railway line which ran from Manila northwards to Dagupan. Built in the late 1800s, the system was later extended southwards to Legazpi in Albay, and northwards to San Fernando, in La Union. There were also railway lines in Panay islands, Cebu and the Negros provinces used to transport sugar cane.
At its peak, the country’s railway system in Luzon run through a 1,100 kilometer-line. For some reason, these lines stopped operating in the early 1900s. They may have been damaged by bombs dropped by enemy planes in the Second World War and were never again fully restored. According to a report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), by 2016, the Philippines only had 77 kilometers of operational main railway line.
Right-of-Way Problems
It appears that one of the obstacles to the development of rail transportation systems in the country, particularly in the bustling Metro Manila, is the Right-of-Way concern.
For decades, these communities have sprouted alongside the railroad tracks operated by the Philippine National Railways (PNR). The government at the national and local levels cannot randomly dismantle these communities without following procedures and requirements set by law. The procedures and requirements are costly. The political cost is even bigger.
At one point, the national government appeared to have summoned both financial resources and political will to do so. During the Arroyo Administration, then-Vice President Noli de Castro was named housing czar. Among his major tasks was to clear the sides of the portions of the right-of-way being used by the Philippine National Railways (PNR). The move was in line with the government’s Northrail Project, the forerunner of the NSCR.
De Castro focused mostly on a 32-kilometer stretch along Quirino Highway and south of Metro Manila. He accomplished the task in record time, and which resulted in the relocation of some 20,000 informal settler families and the dismantling of about 10,000-plus illegal structures built along the PNR line.
The Northrail project was eventually shelved due certain issues. De Castro’s feat, however, served as an indicator of the size of the headache that the NSCR project may be facing in terms of Rights-of-Way, informal settlers and illegal structures.
In 2017, then-DOTr Undersecretary for Rail (and now Presidential Adviser for Strategic Communications) Cesar Chavez said there are about 100,000 informal settlers living along the PNR railway line from Manila to the Bicol region. Some 37,000 of them have built their houses on the portion where the NSCR will run from Calamba to Metro Manila. There are indications that a good number of these informal settlers are families who have recently returned to their homes along the railways after the structures they set up were demolished during the Arroyo administration.
The cost of dismantling the structures and providing for relocation sites is huge. Twelve years ago, PNR estimated the cost of clearing its ROW from Bicol to Manila at P12.5 billion. The cost may have doubled given the rate of inflation.
Bigger opportunity losses
It may cost the country more if it the government does not exercise its political will and get the NSCR project going and finish it on time.
One such opportunity is that of having one of the fastest trains in the SE Asian Region. While it may not be as fast as the two high-speed rail systems Thailand is constructing today (whose trains will run at 250 kph), the NSCR will speed up travel from Metro Manila to Clark International Airport, as well as accelerate further economic growth in the towns and cities along its route.
The move is creating ripples of optimism and creating hopes that the Philippines can soon catch up with the rest of its neighbors in Southeast Asia in terms of transportation efficiency.
Just recently, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista recently announced that the country’s rail transportation system is set to be “digitalized” as the Philippines envisions a “solid and fully connected, technology-stacked rail sector.
Bautista made the statement at a conference on upskilling workers for the digital age, where he said the Philippines is “taking significant strides towards revolutionizing its railway system”. The DOTr head echoed an earlier commitment made by President Bongbong Marcos Jr. that his administration “vows to continue to modernize and improve the country’s transportation system”.
Marcos made the statement at a contract signing ceremony last year in connection with the administration’s mammoth North South Commuter Railways (NSCR) project, the 147-kilometer rail-based system connecting Calamba City and New Clark City and which will pass through traffic-choked portions of the National Capital Region.
The NSCR, seen to be operational by 2029, will feature an airport express service with trains that will run at a speed of up to 160 kilometers per hour (kph). This service promises to cut by more than the travel time to Clark International Airport. It also stands to give the Philippines one of the fastest trains running on a Southeast Asian railway.
The NSCR also promises to revive a rail transportation sector that has languished at the bottom of the ranking in the region.
Last in SEA, Asia
Based on reports released by the World Economic Forum, the Philippines is at the cellar in terms of the quality of rail transportation infrastructure. In the roster of SE Asian countries, it tails Thailand and Vietnam in a seven-country ranking topped by Singapore and Malaysia.
In the 25-country listing for the whole of Asia, the Philippines is also at the bottom, lagging behind countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Japan and Hong Kong are at the top of the ladder.
Worldwide, the quality of the country’s rail transportation infrastructure is at the 86th spot in a list of 101 countries, slightly ahead of the likes Zambia, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. Japan tops the list with Hong Kong and Switzerland right behind at second and third, respectively.
According to the World Economic Forum report, the quality of rail transportation infrastructure indicator is one of the components of the Global Competitiveness index which it publishes annually. The index shows how much ability a country has to attract investors, and to make investors decide to put their money there.
The poor ranking of the Philippines in this category leads to the question, “what ever happened to the country’s erstwhile extensive rail system, and why did the remains of that system languish in apparent neglect?”
Historical accounts indicate that the country once had a 190-plus kilometer railway line which ran from Manila northwards to Dagupan. Built in the late 1800s, the system was later extended southwards to Legazpi in Albay, and northwards to San Fernando, in La Union. There were also railway lines in Panay islands, Cebu and the Negros provinces used to transport sugar cane.
At its peak, the country’s railway system in Luzon run through a 1,100 kilometer-line. For some reason, these lines stopped operating in the early 1900s. They may have been damaged by bombs dropped by enemy planes in the Second World War and were never again fully restored. According to a report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), by 2016, the Philippines only had 77 kilometers of operational main railway line.
Right-of-Way Problems
It appears that one of the obstacles to the development of rail transportation systems in the country, particularly in the bustling Metro Manila, is the Right-of-Way concern.
For decades, these communities have sprouted alongside the railroad tracks operated by the Philippine National Railways (PNR). The government at the national and local levels cannot randomly dismantle these communities without following procedures and requirements set by law. The procedures and requirements are costly. The political cost is even bigger.
At one point, the national government appeared to have summoned both financial resources and political will to do so. During the Arroyo Administration, then-Vice President Noli de Castro was named housing czar. Among his major tasks was to clear the sides of the portions of the right-of-way being used by the Philippine National Railways (PNR). The move was in line with the government’s Northrail Project, the forerunner of the NSCR.
De Castro focused mostly on a 32-kilometer stretch along Quirino Highway and south of Metro Manila. He accomplished the task in record time, and which resulted in the relocation of some 20,000 informal settler families and the dismantling of about 10,000-plus illegal structures built along the PNR line.
The Northrail project was eventually shelved due certain issues. De Castro’s feat, however, served as an indicator of the size of the headache that the NSCR project may be facing in terms of Rights-of-Way, informal settlers and illegal structures.
In 2017, then-DOTr Undersecretary for Rail (and now Presidential Adviser for Strategic Communications) Cesar Chavez said there are about 100,000 informal settlers living along the PNR railway line from Manila to the Bicol region. Some 37,000 of them have built their houses on the portion where the NSCR will run from Calamba to Metro Manila. There are indications that a good number of these informal settlers are families who have recently returned to their homes along the railways after the structures they set up were demolished during the Arroyo administration.
The cost of dismantling the structures and providing for relocation sites is huge. Twelve years ago, PNR estimated the cost of clearing its ROW from Bicol to Manila at P12.5 billion. The cost may have doubled given the rate of inflation.
Bigger opportunity losses
It may cost the country more if it the government does not exercise its political will and get the NSCR project going and finish it on time.
One such opportunity is that of having one of the fastest trains in the SE Asian Region. While it may not be as fast as the two high-speed rail systems Thailand is constructing today (whose trains will run at 250 kph), the NSCR will speed up travel from Metro Manila to Clark International Airport, as well as accelerate further economic growth in the towns and cities along its route.
Feb 12, 2024
