The North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR), also known as the Clark–Calamba Railway, is a commuter rail system under construction on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Running from New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, to Calamba, Laguna, with 36 stations and four services, the railway is designed to improve connectivity within the Greater Manila Area and will be integrated with the railway network in the region.
Originally planned in the 1990s, the railway project has had a tumultuous history, being repeatedly halted and restarted for various reasons. The first proposals were the "Manila–Clark rapid railway" with Spain in the 1990s, alongside the "Manila–Calabarzon Express". During the 2000s, the Northrail project with China was initiated but discontinued in 2011 due to allegations of overpricing. The railway's current incarnation began development in 2013. The project's initial phase was approved in 2015, and construction began in 2019.
Expected to cost , the line is the most expensive railway transportation project in the country. The entire system is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2033.
History Background
+Comparison between NSCR and its predecessor projects SegmentMMUTISNorthrailNSCRCalamba–CaloocanManila–Calabarzon Express (MCX)PNR ClarkPNR CalambaFort Bonifacio–CaloocanManila–Clark Rapid Railway System (MCRRS)Phase 1Phase 3Caloocan–MalolosPhase 1PNR ClarkMalolos–ClarkClark–San FernandoPhase 3Phase 4 rowspan="2" San Fernando–LaoagPhase 4Subic spurPhase 2Phase 2San Jose spurPhase 4
During the Spanish and American colonial periods, the Manila Railway Company, later the Manila Railroad Company (MRR), operated various local trains between Manila and its neighboring provinces. By the 1920s, trains had run from Tutuban to Naic in Cavite, Pagsanjan in Laguna, Montalban in Rizal, and Bulacan. The network was heavily damaged in the Battle of Manila during World War II, but was mostly reestablished after the war. MRR was succeeded by the Philippine National Railways (PNR) on June 20, 1964.
On April 6, 1970, PNR inaugurated the Metro Manila Commuter Service, which started at Manila North Harbor and ended in Biñan station in Laguna. After numerous expansions, the commuter service served thousands of daily riders in its system and had an expansive network in and out of Metro Manila. In 1978, at the request of the Philippine government, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted a study on the electrification of the commuter service. The plan was made to keep up with the increasing demand for transportation in the region. It called for the replacement of the diesel-run trains and the electrification of the PNR commuter line. Two experts from the Japanese National Railways were sent to conduct the study.
Services north of Manila started to decline in the 1980s. However, commuter services were briefly extended to Malolos starting in 1990 under the Metrotren project but later ceased in 1997. Since then, railway services have been mostly confined to the south, with the contemporary Metro Commuter Line being predominantly aligned to the South Main Line.
Proposals in the 1990s In 1994, President Fidel Ramos signed an executive order designating Clark Air Base, as the premier international airport, with the support of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), while the other agencies also supported the development, and in the same year, President Ramos signed a memorandum of agreement with Juan Carlos I of Spain for the construction of a railway line from Manila to Clark. This would be known as the Manila–Clark rapid railway system (MCRRS). A joint venture agreement was entered into on June 10, 1995, between BCDA, PNR, Philippine companies DMCI Holdings and Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation, and Spanish firms with Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Entrecanales y Tavora, Cubiertas y MZOV, (both companies later merged to form Acciona) and Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, S.A., as well as other investors. The agreement also established the North Luzon Railways Corporation (NLRC) for the purpose of constructing, operating, and managing the railroad system on August 24. In 1996, Spanish and Japanese companies entered the bidding process, while the project would have also been co-financed by the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF, later Japan Bank for International Cooperation or JBIC, now JICA). The NLRC then entered into an engineering, procurement and construction contract with the Spanish Railways Corporation on February 7 of the same year. Meanwhile, in 1997, Ayala Land proposed the construction of a railway known as the Manila–Calabarzon Express (MCX). Its initial phase involved the rehabilitation of the railway from Caloocan to Calamba and eventually the construction of spur lines to Carmona and Canlubang under a build–own–operate scheme.
Studies indicated that the MCRRS project was planned to unfold in four phases. Phase 1, was set to connect Fort Bonifacio, including a proposed intermodal station in Bonifacio Global City, to the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone. Phase 2 aimed to extend the line to Subic Bay. Phase 3 planned for an extension to San Fernando, La Union. Phase 4 proposed another extension from San Fernando to Laoag and an additional spur line to San Jose, Nueva Ecija. Both proposals were subsequently included in the Metro Manila Urban Transportation Integration Study (MMUTIS).
The contract between the NLRC and the Spanish Railways Corporation was terminated on August 14, 1998, after the parties disagreed on the source of funding for the project.
Despite the contract termination, in September 1999, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) approved the MCRRS, with the initial phase covering a segment from Caloocan to Calumpit. The source of funding was to be the Obuchi Fund from the JBIC. The consortium was also now joined by Japanese companies including Fil Estate Management, Nishimatsu Construction, and Mitsui & Co. Pre-construction activities such as right-of-way clearing and relocation of affected informal settlers began, but a presidential directive later halted the clearing activities. Then, JBIC later dumped the project because of the government could not commit to clear the railway path squatters before releasing a loan, causing a lack of funds.
Ayala Land was subsequently excluded from the MCX as the government opted to fund the railway construction also through the Obuchi Fund, opening the project for bidding to private developers. In April 2000, the JBIC Obuchi Fund provided a $300 million loan to tap the ₱18.2 billion project. By the following year, the Japanese government was considering funding the project.
Another study about the integration of Metro Manila's railway network by JICA in 2001 proposed the through-operation of both railways in two options, such as an elevated section running on the existing PNR old right-of-way or an underground section running from Tayuman to Vito Cruz. According to SIRNMM, the proposed indicative length, which would have run from Tayuman to Marilao, was , while both options for MCX were to be (elevated) or (underground) from Tayuman to Cabuyao. However, the plans would never materialize.
Northrail
Under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the MCRRS was succeeded by the Northrail project, a railway system from Caloocan to San Fernando, La Union. The Northrail project's phase 1 involved the upgrading of the existing single track to an elevated dual-track system, converting the rail gauge from narrow gauge to standard gauge, and linking Manila to Malolos in Bulacan and further on to the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone and Clark International Airport. The first segment of phase 1 covered the railway from Caloocan to Malolos. Succeeding phases followed the MCRRS masterplan, although Phase 4 was removed, Phase 3 was rebranded as Phase 4, and the section between Fort Bonifacio to Caloocan was rebranded as Phase 3, while Phase 2 was unchanged. Its southern counterpart, the Southrail project, involved the rehabilitation of the entire South Main Line from Calamba to Legazpi, Albay, with an extension to Matnog. Meanwhile, the Northrail–Southrail Linkage involved the rehabilitation of the existing Metro Commuter Line from Caloocan to Calamba, creating a link between the two systems.
On September 14, 2002, a memorandum of understanding was signed by NLRC and China National Machinery and Equipment Group (CNMEG) for the project. It was later approved on August 5, 2003. The project was estimated to cost around US$500 million, and the funding was to be covered by a US$400 million loan from the Export–Import Bank of China, and the rest to be shouldered by the government through BCDA and NLRC. The Southrail project was also expected to be financed by loans from China, while the linkage project was to be financed by South Korea. While the plans for Southrail were not realized, the initial phase of the linkage project from Caloocan to Alabang was completed in December 2010.
Before Northrail's construction could start, the project became embroiled in controversy as the Philippine Senate raised concerns about alleged corruption in the project. Senator Franklin Drilon commissioned a study from the University of the Philippines, which recommended the cancellation of the railway's construction, citing anomalies in the bidding process and the Buyer Credit Loan Agreement (BCLA) with Exim China. Despite the controversy, preparatory construction began in early November 2006. Civil and design works started in October 2007. However, CNMEG reportedly demobilized from the project on July 1, 2008, due to differences on engineering and construction standards, although this was later retracted.
Due to delays in the construction work, it was soon renegotiated with the Chinese government. Construction temporarily continued in January 2009 with the support of the North Luzon Railways Corporation. However, the project would be shelved in March 2010 due to persisting legal issues and allegations of overpricing and corruption. In 2011, Northrail was cancelled by the government under the presidency of Benigno Aquino III. Like the failed Hopewell Project in Bangkok, a few structures had been completed by the time of its cancellation. The government contemplated reusing the completed structures from the project, but ultimately, this was not implemented.
In September 2011, the government expressed its interest to restart the project with China reportedly open to reconfigure the project. In March 2012, the Philippine Supreme Court authorized a lower court to hear the case for voiding the contract. Instead of paying the US$184 million owed by the government in 2012, the Department of Finance was to pay Exim China four installments of US$46 million from September 2012 onwards. In August 2012, the Chinese and Philippine governments agreed to "disengage" from the project, although the Philippine government was still obligated to pay the corresponding loans. On November 6, 2017, DOTr, BCDA, and NLRC reached an out-of-court settlement with Sinomach (formerly CNMEG), resolving the five-year dispute. It saved the government in potential payment of claims to Sinomach and hundreds of millions of pesos in legal fees and arbitration costs.
The Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) ordered the deactivation of NLRC in May 2019. According to GCG, the company was "not producing the desired outcomes, no longer achieving the objectives and purposes for which it was designed and created, and not cost efficient and does not generate the level of social, physical and economic returns vis-à-vis the resource inputs." On October 19, 2023, NLRC was formally abolished, with the BCDA to act as the administrator and liquidator of NLRC and settle its liabilities.
Development