RAILWAY
Panay Railways Inc. (PRI) operated the
What is Rail Transport?
Rail transport is also known as train
transport. It is a means of transport, on
vehicles which run on tracks (rails or
railroads). It is one of the most
important, commonly used and very cost
effective modes of commuting and
goods carriage over long, as well as,
short distances.
Rail transport has emerged as one of the
most dependable modes of transport in
terms of safety. Trains are fast and the
least affected by usual weather
turbulences like rain or fog, compared to
other transport mechanisms.
History of railroads in the Philippines
The first railroad in the Philippines was
inaugurated on Nov. 24, 1892, nearly
two decades after King Alfonso XII of
Spain issued a decree for the
establishment of a railroad system in
Luzon.
Construction of the railroad began in
1888. The line covered 195 kilometers
from Manila to Dagupan in Pangasinan.
The line was founded as Ferrocarril de
Manila-Dagupan. It became Manila
Railroad Co. (MRRCo) during the
American colonial rule.
In 1964, by virtue of Republic Act No.
4156, MRRCo became Philippine
National Railways (PNR), a
government-owned corporation. PNR
was once Luzon’s premier railroad
operator, with over 797 km of tracks
linking La Union to Bicol, but decades
of neglect, mismanagement and damage
from natural calamities gradually
reduced its coverage.
In 1906, the Philippine Commission
authorized PNR to construct and operate
rail lines in other parts of the country.
railroad connecting Iloilo City to Roxas
City in Capiz through a 117-km track.
PRI closed shop in the mid-1980s after
encountering financial difficulties.
Types of rail transport
Urban rail transport
Urban rail transport is one of the
overarching types of rail transport. It is
the term used for different types of local
rail systems which provide a passenger
service in and around urban or suburban
areas. Urban rail transport includes
trams, rapid transport trains, monorails,
light rail, cable cars, funiculars and
commuter rail.
Rapid transit
Rapid transit trains are high-capacity
public transport trains.
Generally known as the metro, the
subway, the underground, the tube or
similar, they are electric railways which
run in and through areas which cannot
be accessed by pedestrians.
Commuter rail
Commuter rail is a similar system to
rapid transit rail. It encompasses rail
transport services within metropolitan
areas, connecting commuters from
towns and suburbs to cities for work
purposes, first and foremost. They are
considered heavy rail, and use electric or
diesel trains.
Here in the Philippines, we currently
has three operational commuter lines:
the PNR Metro Commuter Line, located
in Metro Manila, the PNR Inter-
Provincial Commuter between Laguna
and Quezon, and the PNR Bicol
Commuter Line, located in the Bicol
Region. All of these lines are operated
by Philippine National Railways. There
are two rapid transit systems operating
in the country: the Manila Light Rail
Transit System, and the Manila Metro
Rail System, both serving passengers in
Metro Manila.
High-speed railways
HSRs (high-speed railways) run at a
significantly faster speed than other
types of rail transport.
HSRs use an integrated system of rolling
stock and designated tracks; there is no
single speed standard that exists
worldwide but if a train can travel faster
than 160mph it is considered to be an
HSR.
Monorail
A monorail is a type of railway where
the track has a singular beam or rail.
While the name does refer to the type of
track, colloquially ‘monorail’ is used to
refer to elevated rail vehicles. Monorails
can be found in zoos and theme parks,
such as Granby Zoo in Canada and
Flamingo Land in the UK.
Elevated railways
Similarly to a monorail, elevated
railways are a type of rail transport that
run above ground level rather than at or
below ground level. Elevated railways
are used predominantly in urban areas to
avoid congestion and the need for level
crossings.
Trams and streetcars
A tram is a rail vehicle that runs on
tramway tracks along public urban
streets. Trams have been referred to as
‘electric street railways’ in the past.
They are short and light in comparison
to main line or rapid transit trains; trams
mostly use electric power from overhead
lines, which means they are not as bad
for the environment as cars or buses
which are often in the same road areas.
Funiculars
A funicular is one of the most interesting
types of rail transport. Funiculars are
powered by cable traction, and designed
specifically for steep inclines. There are
two counterbalanced passenger cars
which move in concert – as one goes up,
the other comes back down.
Plateway
A plateway is one of the early types of
rail transport in the UK. The rails were
made from cast iron, and they were used
for around 50 years between 1780 and
1830. Generally, plateways were horse-
drawn and had L-shaped rails. Plateways
were first introduced by John Curr.
NEW RAILWAY SYSTEMS IN
THE PHILIPPINES
NORTH SOUTH COMMUTER
RAILWAY (NSCR)
The North-South railway project (NSRP)
is a part of the Government of
Philippines’ objective to catalyse
economic and urban growth in the most
populous regions of the islands by
providing critical connectivity through a
world-class passenger rail service. The
rehabilitation and development of the
NSRP is aimed at revitalising a
substantial portion of the national
railway network to provide long-
distance and rapid transportation in
Luzon, the largest and most populous
island in the Philippine islands.
The NSCR System is a 147km railway
system connecting the National Capital
Region (NCR) to the regional centers of
Pampanga and Laguna. It is composed
of three segments: Malolos-Clark,
Tutuban-Malolos, and Solis-Calamba.
Jointly implemented by the Department
of Transportation (DOTr) and the
Philippine National Railways (PNR)
with the financial assistance of Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
and the Asian Development Bank
(ADB).
How efficient is the North South METRO MANILA SUBWAY
Commuter Railway?
The Metro Manila Subway Project has
At full capacity, around a million been in gestation for nearly 50 years
passengers per day will be served by the before the groundbreaking (finally) took
NSCR System. Travel time from Clark place in 2019. It’s been hailed as the
to Calamba will be reduced from four ‘Project of the Century” and the first
hours to a consistent one hour and 45 ever subway in the Philippines. Once
minutes. The NSCR will feature double completed, the Metro Manila Subway
track along the entire route with a design should span a total of 33.1km from
speed of 75kph. Valenzuela City to Bicutan, Parañaque
City.
Where will the NSCR stations be
What other rail lines will the Metro
located? Manila Subway connect to?
The Department of
 CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Transportation (DOTr) says this project
STATION will connect to both current and future
 CLARK STATION Metro Manila rail lines.The Metro
 ANGELES STATION
 SAN FERNANDO STATION
Manila Subway will be connected to the
 APALIT STATION LRT-1, MRT-3, and MRT-7 rail lines
 CALUMPIT STATION via North Avenue’s upcoming Grand
 BLUMENTRITT STATION Common Station. The LRT-2,
 ESPAÑA STATION meanwhile, will be connected to the
 STA. MESA STATION
 PACO STATION
project through the Anonas Station.
 BUENDIA STATION North-South Commuter Railway lines,
 EDSA STATION meanwhile, will be connected to the
 NICHOLS STATION Metro Manila Subway’s Senate-Dep Ed.
 FTI STATION and FTI stations in Taguig and
 BICUTAN STATION
 SUCAT STATION
Parañaque, respectively.
 ALABANG STATION
 MUNTINLUPA STATION
 SAN PEDRO STATION How many trains will the Metro
 PACITA STATION Manila Subway have?
 BIÑAN STATION
 STA. ROSA STATION The DOTr says that the Metro Manila
 CABUYAO STATION
Subway will use a fleet of 80 eight-car
 BANLIC STATION
 CALAMBA STATION train sets sourced from Japan. Each set
is supposedly able to carry as many
The project is one of the Government's as 2,242 passengers. In total, the Metro
efforts to promote inclusive growth and Manila Subway is expected to serve up
improve the transport and logistics to 519,000 passengers per day.
services to currently underserved areas
in the country. It is expected to ease the How efficient is the Metro Manila
traffic congestion on the national and Subway?
local roads while accelerating economic Once finished, the Metro Manila
growth and expansion along the project's Subway will run at an operational speed
coverage. of 80kph. Its maximum speed, however,
is set at 120kph. The DOTr also expects
wait times at Metro Manila Subway
stations to be as little as five minutes. 15. NAIA Terminal 3 Station
The expected travel time from
Valenzuela City to Bicutan is estimated 16. Food Terminal Incorporated (FTI)
at 45 minutes.
Station
The tunnel diameter inside and outside 17. Bicutan Station
is projected to be 5.2 meters (17 ft) and
5.65 meters (18.5 ft), respectively. Since
there are estimates of an
expected magnitude-7.2 earthquake
(which can be as powerful REFERENCES
as magnitude 7.6) in the Marikina
Valley Fault System, it is designed to https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/d
withstand a magnitude-8.0 earthquake. efinition/rail-transport

Where will the Metro Manila
Subway stations be located?
As of October 2022, a total of 17 Metro
Manila Subway Stations have been
confirmed:
https://nscr.com.ph/map?fbclid=IwAR1c
_zzRJEzNdvwBUEofQXUS5m-
qlaRsIReSlH0v8TrGPkFlEB6Xqs6Z1N
4
https://www.topgear.com.ph/features/fea
ture-articles/metro-manila-subway-
2023-a962-
20221003?ref=article_hyperlink

1. East Valenzuela Station https://www.railway-

technology.com/projects/north-south-
2. Quirino Highway Station
railway-
3. Tending Sora Station project/#:~:text=The%20NSCR%20will
%20feature%20double,and%20depot%2
4. North Avenue (Grand Common 0facilities%20in%20Calamba.
Station)
https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/mobil
5. Quezon Avenue Station ity/103783/timeline-of-the-nscr-project-
a5229-20230216
6. East Avenue Station
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/984438/in-
7. Anonas Station the-know-history-of-railroads-in-ph
8. Camp Aguinaldo Station

9. Ortigas Station

10. Shaw Station

11. Kalayaan Avenue Station

12. Bonifacio Global City Station

13. Lawton Station

14. Senate-Dep Ed. Station