War-torn railways as alternate road?

CEBU, Philippines – Talisay City Councilor Socrates Fernandez is supporting the move to conduct a feasibility study on the opening of the old Philippine Railways as an alternative road from the City of Naga to Cebu City.

Fernandez is the chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Infrastructures.

The Cebu Provincial Development Council already endorsed a proposal by the Minglanilla town council for the feasibility of reviving the national road of the old Philippine Railways which was operated by the Philippine Railway Company in 1923.

Fernandez said he sees the need for an alternative road since the present national road traversing Naga to Talisay City is currently experiencing heavy traffic congestion.

"There is an urgent need for an alternative road along the coast to ease the heavy traffic concentration along the main highway," Fernandez said. He added that the provincial government is in the best position to conduct the study since they are mandated to address project involving two or more component local government units.

The old Cebu railway system did not survive World War II since the bridges, the rail tracks, and the Central Station were all bombed down. The resulting damage was so extensive that the railway was never rehabilitated.

Before World War II, the Philippine Railway Construction Company  had a 57-mile mainline track connecting the municipalities of Danao in the north and Argao in the south.

The track was primarily built to facilitate transport of sugar, coal, and other products from all over the island to Cebu City, from where these found their way to the rest of the region.

The junction of Leon Kilat and P. Del Rosario Streets used to be the Central Station of the railway -- from the current Development Bank of the Philippines up to the recently condemned Cebu City Medical Center building. 

In going south, the train would halt in two municipalities before reaching Argao -- in Barangay Valladolid, Carcar City and in Barangay Sab-ang, Sibonga.