Metro Manila — The PNR North or Manila-Clark Railway Project, a 106-kilometer line connecting Manila to Central Luzon will tremendously cut down travel time by as much as 70 percent.
With this railway project, you can travel from Tutuban, Manila to Clark, Pampanga in under an hour or 55 minutes, a significant reduction from the current 2-3 hours travel time. The rail line will have a total of 17 stations, five of which were marked in a station marking event early today.
The stations will run from Tutuban passing through Marilao and Malolos and all the way to the Clark International Airport and the proposed New Clark City in Tarlac. This will be the first time that a commuter rail project will be extended to Central Luzon.
This project is expected to decongest Metro Manila and spur development in the peripheries of Metro Manila. “We hope to finish the term of President Duterte with at least 1,000 kilometers of railway system all over the country,” said Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade.
The PNR North railway project is one of the 61 infrastructure projects under the Build Build Build program of the Duterte administration. It will begin construction later this year and targeted for completion in 2021. It is designed to accommodate 350,000 passengers daily on its opening year. Other rail projects include PNR South (Manila – Los Baños – Bicol) and Mindanao Railway. MRT-7, LRT-2 East Extension, and LRT-1 Cavite Extension projects are all undergoing construction. ###(DOTr)