The Philippine National Railways (PNR) is committed to bringing additional rolling stock southward as part of expanding operations in the Southern Luzon and Bicol regions.
During the "Kapihan sa PIA Calabarzon: Ugnayan at Talakayan sa Laguna" forum held at SM City Santa Rosa last April 24, Maricar Bautista, Spokesperson for Business Infrastructure of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), said the PNR is now in the process of moving trains currently stored at depot in Tutuban, Manila to the southern portion of its rail network.
The move aims to add more trips to the two commuter rail services being operated by PNR, one connecting Laguna and Quezon provinces and the other traversing the Bicol region.
"Due to the temporary suspension of train operations in Manila to give way for the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) construction, the train sets from Manila are in the process of migration to Laguna, Quezon and Bicol to increase the number of trips and improve services for the public," Bautista reported.
Two train sets will be deployed for the Laguna to Quezon route, which operates between the cities of Calamba, San Pablo and Lucena, while three train sets will be deployed for the Bicol Commuter service between Camarines Sur and Albay.
PNR currently operates two one-way trips from Calamba City to Lucena City and vice-versa, one in the morning to Calamba City and one in the afternoon back to Lucena City.
The interprovincial rail service was revived in 2022 after the Covid-19 pandemic but was repeatedly suspended due to damage to PNR’s tracks caused by successive typhoons that hit Luzon in 2023 and 2024.
The state-owned railway, Bautista said, is also committed to reviving interprovincial train services from Calamba City to Legazpi City, Albay by 2026.
PNR is now conducting repair and rehabilitation works along its tracks and bridges from Lucena City to Sipocot, Camarines Sur.
Meanwhile, right-of-way acquisition is now underway for the 556-kilometer South Long Haul Project that will extend PNR's services all the way to Matnog, Sorsogon.
“The alignment will utilize about 35.65 percent of the PNR’s existing right-of-way, while the remaining 64.35 percent will be through land acquisition,” Bautista added.
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