Preserving the trains

I didn't know that the Philippine National Railways  had a charter that would expire next month. The existing charter allowed the PNR to operate for fifty years. If the charter is not amended by Congress before it expires, then the country's only mass railway network would have to cease operations. The Senate is scheduled to discuss the amendment before their session ends next month. Many senators are confident that the charter will be amended.

Around seventy-five thousand passengers are serviced by the railway every day. Many prefer to use this form of transportation because it is much cheaper and they can estimate their travel times because it is not affected by traffic. If operations were to cease, that would affect the many who patronize the system, and be forced to use other forms of getting around.

But in the past months, the trains have been fraught with accidents, mostly involving running over or sideswiping unsuspecting pedestrians. Why this even happens only highlights the need for both sides of the tracks to be free of pedestrians, even homes. Some areas of the tracks have been cleared of informal settlers, who have the nerve of throwing their garbage onto the roofs of oncoming trains. This prompted the PNR to redesign the roofs, but some are still enterprising in their waste disposal. But long sections of railway tracks are still dotted with homes on both sides. Trains do not stop on a dime, and pedestrians cannot seem to understand that, sometime playing a deadly game of cat and mouse. In this case, the cat will always win.

Should the charter be amended, the PNR plans to revive the original route from La Union to Legaspi City. Additional routes to Sorsogon, the Batangas Port and even to Tuguegarao City are planned. Trains as a form of transportation is far from being obsolete. Traveling by train is still sought after by many. In countries like Japan, Germany, and France, the trains have been vastly improved with the use of modern technology. They travel at amazing speeds, with the utmost concern for safety. In Europe, the advised way to get around when traveling as a tourist would be the trains. You get to see much of the countryside without the hassle of traffic.

Our railway system and trains are far from those of other countries. But if the charter is amended, the system has to be modernized. The trains have to be upgraded, even by a bit. If the PNR wants to entice even tourists to use the train to get to the destinations mentioned, they need to make them enticing. I do fancy traveling the countryside by train. Images of the mounds of people on trains in India is not what I had in mind.

Trains were the first mode of mass land transportation that opened up the world to millions. That legacy should continue. Such a waste of the tracks already in existence if the trains would make their last stop next month. But they have to be made safer by relocating those who live beside its tracks. It just has to be done.