Japan at the helm
The Japanese government, through its Japan International Cooperative Agency (JICA), is granting a two billion dollar loan to the government to build an elevated railway from Tutuban Station in Metro Manila to Malolos, Bulacan, covering almost thirty-seven kilometers. This is Phase 1. The loan is part of Japan's 100-billion dollar Asian infrastructure aid. The project will now be named the North-South Commuter Railway Project as the old name, Northrail, already has a bad history to it.
The Northrail project, which would have connected Metro Manila, particularly NAIA to the Clark Freeport Zone was funded by a Chinese bank, which will then be built by a Chinese company. But the project was just fraught with anomalies and controversy, even being tagged as the most expensive railway in the world at a cost of around $25 million per kilometer. Such are the legacies of the past administration. So the Aquino administration decided to cancel the contract which was deemed disadvantageous to the government.
The government is confident that with Japan at the helm of the project, it will finally push through. Of course, the success of the project also relies on the government to oversee the progress of the project, and to make sure everything is above board. A corrupt administration will really get us nowhere. The Northrail project suffered from the greed of all parties concerned. Only a kilometer of the proposed 90-kilometer railway was constructed, while the Chinese company was already paid a hefty sum.
The country really needs an efficient and modern railway system. All developed countries continue to use trains as a basic mode of transportation. Modern and highly technological trains that run even faster than most aircraft, such the well known Shinkansen or "Bullet Train" of Japan, the TGV of France, the AGV of Italy, and Velaro of Spain. All these trains travel at least three hundred kilometers per hour. Just imagine if we have a similar train system running from Metro Manila to Clark. NAIA would be easily decongested. Clark International Airport has always been seen as an alternative international hub, but the travel time of more than an hour by car discourages many. The North-South Commuter Railway Project will tackle this portion soon, along with railways to Calamba, Laguna to as far as Albay and Sorsogon.
The country still sorely lacks in infrastructure. The development of an efficient train system takes us in the right direction. With the Japanese at the helm, we hope to see this become a reality. Perhaps they can take control of the MRT/LRT lines as well?
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