PNR South Railway project cuts Manila-Legazpi travel time to less than five hours

MANILA – The construction of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) South Railway project will officially happen as President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to sign the P175-billion project scheduled this month.

The project is a part of the ‘PNR Luzon System program’ high-priced infrastructures funded under an Official Development Assistance (ODA) agreement that President Duterte and President Xi Jinping have agreed.

PNR South Railway project will stretch from Manila to Bicol having nine stations on – Manila, Los Baños, Batangas City, Lucena, Gumaca, Naga City, Legazpi City, Sorsogon City, and Matnog.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda stated that the project will play a big role in the future economic development of Southern Tagalog and Bicol region.

“Finally, the PNR South Railways project which we have tediously designed as a key that will unlock the economic potentials of the vast Southern Tagalog and Bicol areas is now finally coming to realization” Salceda stated.

Once fully operational, the project is said to enhance the connection of the nearby cities to one another even boosting Bicol’s tourism industry by as much as 30%.

The construction will start in the second quarter of 2019 and is said to be partially operational by 2022’s second quarter.

Hopefully, the PNR South Railway project will be constructed along with fully operational trains, machines, escalators, and elevators with a special queue for PWD, senior citizen, pregnant women, and children compared to the old and rusty trains the Metro Manila has.