the PNR comeback

**ghosthunter** · July 7th, 2009 12:24 PM

hey, nice rail cars. I would just wish people wouldn't vandalize it.

**jpdm** · July 9th, 2009 10:54 AM

PNR ROW: Sampaloc, Manila (Before)

PNR Row: Sampaloc, Manila (Today)

Squatters are gone

**jpdm** · July 9th, 2009 12:21 PM

Old Logo for the new PNR commuter train (DMU)

New Logo for the new PNR Commuter Train (DMU for Caloocan-Alabang Route only)

Courtesy of happosai from skyscrapercity

**Taurus** · July 9th, 2009 12:46 PM

This is just so nice. Bicol Express is back! :bike:

**shadow** · July 9th, 2009 12:47 PM

maganda ito!!! kailan start ng operation? kahit mahal pa ang fare ok lang....ang daming makikinabang sa mga taga south pwede hinde na magdala ng kotse....

**baludoy** · July 9th, 2009 07:32 PM

^nice pics.

i'm thinking if punta ako sa north ng maynila, pwede ko iwan ang kotse sa festival mall (o pwede din sa star mall mismo para mas malapit) sa alabang tapos konting lakad para makapunta sa station near liana's supermarket across the south super highway tapos train ride na.

pwede!

**jpdm** · July 10th, 2009 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by shadow

maganda ito!!! kailan start ng operation? kahit mahal pa ang fare ok lang....ang daming makikinabang sa mga taga south pwede hinde na magdala ng kotse....

July 30 yung Caloocan-Alabang commuter train service ( DMU-LRT 2 look alike train) I think. Filtrack ang tawag.

Yung Penafrancia or up to Bicol service September 2009 naman.The thrain to be used will be the ones being refurbished and commex train cars from Japan.

**testament11** · July 10th, 2009 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by jpdm

July 30 yung Caloocan-Alabang commuter train service ( DMU-LRT 2 look alike train) I think. Filtrack ang tawag.

Yung Penafrancia or up to Bicol service September 2009 naman.The thrain to be used will be the ones being refurbished and commex train cars from Japan.

sana maextend man lang up to north eto...

**jpdm** · July 10th, 2009 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by testament11

sana maextend man lang up to north eto...

Yes. Yung Northrail. Northrail right of way cleared na. The malolos Station seems to be under construction already...

This is now the PNR Buendia station. ala na rin yung mga iskwating at tambay kasi may security guards na PNR...

**jpdm** · July 10th, 2009 12:08 PM

[SIZE=4]Arroyo aide says NorthRail firm to resume work [/SIZE]

July 10, 2009
The Philippine Builder

ANGELES CITY – A China-owned company that backed out of the Chinese-funded NorthRail project last February will return to work possibly in August, Edgardo Pamintuan, newly appointed president of the North Luzon Railways Corp. (NLRC) said on Wednesday.

“They will be back,” Pamintuan said, referring to the China National Machinery and Equipment Corp. (CNMEC). “I am sure. I’m very optimistic because I already talked with (the) commercial attaché (of China in the Philippines) last Sunday.”

Pamintuan, who is also chair of the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council and Luzon Urban Beltway Region, said he intervened to resolve the issue on orders of President Macapagal-Arroyo on June 30. “After our 30 minutes of discussion, the attaché told me, ‘If we had met earlier, we could have finished the project in two years and a half,’” he said, recalling their conversation.

Past accord

The project was conceptualized through a memorandum signed by former President Fidel Ramos and King Juan Carlos of Spain in 1994. China provided a [COLOR=#990000 ! important][COLOR=#990000 ! important]loan[/COLOR][/COLOR] of $400 million for the Caloocan City-City of Malolos [Bulacan] phase, for which the NLRC made a first draw down of $105 million on Sept. 29, 2004.

Since January 2005, the NLRC, a subsidiary of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), has been paying $400,000 monthly for the loan’s interest. The BCDA and the NLRC have put up a counterpart of $107.819 million to the project. The National Housing Authority had spent about P6 billion to relocate around 20,000 families out of the old tracks of the Philippine National Railways Corp., where the railway system would be built.

In 2006, the Chinese government increased the loan to $1 billion to enable the Philippine government to extend the NorthRail to the Clark Freeport in Pampanga where the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport is located.

Pamintuan said he was meeting the Chinese ambassador to discuss the final details in the resumption of work by the CNMEC.

No work

His ocular inspection on Tuesday showed that 160 CNMEC employees, who are involved in survey and design work, had returned to China. Only 20 have remained but were not working.

Based on discussions with CNMEC and NLRC officials, Pamintuan said the contractor decided to abandon the project because it “refused to build on a piecemeal basis.”

According to him, the NLRC has not freed the alignment [on which the new tracks will be built] from right-of-way problems.

For instance, the foundations of several bridges have not been demolished.

“The Chinese said they need explosives. The NLRC people got P10 million for that and gave that to the [Armed Forces of the Philippines]. The AFP said their procurement process slowed down. I said that must not be the case. They can fast-track by doing a rebid purchase,” Pamintuan said.

On top of those problems, the entire project has not taken off because, he said, the CNMEC and the NLRC have “not come up with a schedule.”

“The design has not been approved. Only 22 km out of 34 km have been cleared.”

Hopefully, this will be finished in the next two years...under Villar presidency.hehehe