Chiz bats for expansion of train system to provinces

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Francis Escudero has stressed the need to improve and expand the train system from Metro Manila to nearby provinces in a bid to solve the worsening traffic in the country.  

“We have to start dispersing the city center away from Metro Manila, and the only way to do that is via an efficient train system connecting the metropolis to Bulacan, Pampanga up to Tarlac in the north, and then Laguna, Batangas, down to Quezon in the south,” Escudero said.

“With that, it is possible to actually live in Laguna and work in Makati, or live in Tarlac and work in Quezon City,” he said.

The senator said the focus should be on the train system since this is the most efficient and most economical mode of transportation. Its expansion will ease the traffic in Metro Manila by integrating the urban center with the provinces around the metropolis.

He lamented that the Philippines lags behind other Asian countries in terms of a functional train system.

“We see and feel that every single day. Riding the MRT (Metro Rail Transit) or LRT (Light Rail Transit) has become a dehumanizing experience for Filipinos, but it’s a choice between that or taking the bus and being stuck on the road for hours,” he said.

Escudero pointed out that the total length of the three existing main passenger railway networks in Metro Manila is only 50.35 kilometers, and yet it provides transportation to over one million riders daily. 

Escudero said the next government should focus on infrastructure development if it wants to sustain the country’s economic growth and make it truly inclusive.

He said the Philippines could study the mass transport system of its Asian neighbors that have developed efficient rail transit systems, as models for future infrastructure development.

Hong Kong, for example, has a population of over seven million people and a 218-kilometer Mass Transit Railway (MTR) network that caters to around five million passengers daily.

Singapore has a total population of only 5.47 million but is serviced by a 360-kilometer Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, with an average of 2.6 million passengers every day.

According to the World Bank, the population of Thailand’s capital Bangkok grew from 7.8 million in 2000 to 9.6 million in 2010. It has the 100.1-kilometer Bangkok Mass Train System (BTS) carrying 580,000 riders daily.

The Philippines has a total population of about 100 million, of which 12 million are in Metro Manila.

Despite the concentration of political and economic activities in this area, the Philippines only provides its riding public a 16.9-kilometer Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) with a maximum design capacity of 350,000 passengers.

At the start of the year, the MRT-3 had an average ridership of 540,000 daily but this dropped to 330,000 because many of the trains have fallen into disrepair.

The number of operational trains went down from around 15 to 20 trains daily to only eight at a point in September, according to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

The LRT has two operational lines: LRT-1 has a 19.8-kilometer train system, with an average daily ridership of 500,000 people, while LRT-2 has a 13.65-kilometer train network and an average of 240,000 passengers daily.

According to a study by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency, the traffic in Metro Manila costs the Philippines as much as P2.4 billion a day due to the lost productivity and potential income of people stuck in congested roads. This will balloon to P6 billion a day by 2030 if nothing is done to solve the problem, the NEDA said.

A much older railway system, the Philippine National Railways, carries over 66,000 passengers every day. Its Metro South Commuter Train, which is supposed to run from Tutuban in Manila to Calamba in Laguna, is currently operational until Alabang, Muntinlupa only.

The PNR is the oldest railway system in the country, dating back to 1892 as the Ferrocarril de Manila-Dagupan during the Spanish colonial period.