Arriving soon: Cargo rail between Laguna and Albay

Farmers, manufacturers and traders may get a cheaper mode of transportation for their goods by next year, as the Philippine National Railways (PNR) will pursue a P5-billion plan to retrofit the existing line between Laguna and Albay for cargo movement.

- ELIJAH FELICE ROSALES

The PNR is looking into the viability of repurposing its current alignment to the south of Luzon for freight use, for the meantime that the government has yet to secure a financier for the revival of the Bicol Express, also called the PNR South Long Haul.

Transportation Undersecretary Jeremy Regino told The STAR that the PNR is transferring trains to its existing lines in Southern Tagalog and Bicol Region.

To recall, the PNR has stopped its commuter services in Metro Manila to make way for the civil works of the P873.62 billion North-South Commuter Railway. To maximize rail assets, the PNR is bringing locomotives to the southern segment.

One of the PNR’s plans is to operate cargo trains between Calamba, Laguna and Legazpi in Albay by 2025. In particular, the government looks to build a dry port in Calamba where containers can be carried in and out of the freight trains.

The PNR may require a maximum of P5 billion to develop the project based on initial estimates and Regino prays that legislators will give it a chance by allocating a budget for it.