Bringing back the trains

Bringing back the trains

Updated 10:18pm (Mla time) Nov 15, 2004
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the November 15, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.


I AM old enough to remember, on car trips to Baguio, encountering along Kennon Road a stream of black limousines that, so my parents told me, were service cars ferrying first-class train passengers who had gotten off at San Fernando, La Union. Later, in my teens when my uncle Nicanor Jimenez became general manager of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) in the 1970s, I would join my parents on these same trains, getting off at Dagupan City on our way to my mother's hometown of Alaminos in the province of Pangasinan.

Students of history might well remember that the North Luzon train line is the same line that was managed in the late 1800s by the Englishman who married Leonor Rivera, Jose Rizal's first love.

Long before highways and expressways were constructed to link the provinces of Northern Luzon to Metro Manila, trains provided a vital artery, ferrying passengers and cargo from as far north as La Union to Manila, and, if needed, all the way south to the Bicol region. Unfortunately, in the 30 years since we took what would turn out to be among the last railroad runs to Northern Luzon, the northern lines were abandoned in favor of an extensive infrastructure frenzy that saw the construction of not just the Northern Luzon Expressway but also a system of highways all the way to the northernmost province Cagayan.

Nowadays there's talk once more of reviving train service to Northern Luzon and rehabilitating the train tracks that have since fallen victim to neglect and to thieves running off with the iron rails for sale to junk yards and the wooden ties to sell to landscapers, with “travieza” having become a staple of home and garden décor.

For good or ill, the time for a revived train service to Northern Luzon has come. Traffic congestion, especially on national holidays, has made the land trip to popular tourist and business destinations like Clark, Subic, La Union and Baguio not just longer but also more aggravating. The constantly rising price of gasoline has made long bus and car trips also quite expensive. Most importantly, improvements in railroad technology have made train rides faster and more comfortable. With the country still reeling from the death and injuries sustained in the recent derailment of a PNR train in Quezon, improvements in safety features should also be a welcome boon.

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JOSE Cortez, who was handpicked by the President to chair North Rail Inc., the firm that will undertake the revival of train service to Northern Luzon, assures us that safety was foremost on their minds when they finalized plans for the project's various phases. Foremost among these features is the use of a double track, which will not only prevent collisions but also cut travel time. Also planned is the construction of a high wall all along the train route, not just to prevent settlements along the necessary easements, but also for the safety of both the train system and the commuting public.

With construction of Phase 1 scheduled to begin this month, Cortez says North Rail is only waiting for the final clearance of informal settlements along the original PNR line in the Metro Manila cities of Malabon and Valenzuela, then through Bulacan province. Funded by a soft loan of $421 million from the Chinese government, the North Rail project is expected to run the length from Caloocan to Malolos for Phase 1, Section 1, and then from Malolos to Clark Special Economic Zone for the second section. Phase 2 covers San Fernando, Pampanga, to Subic. Phase 3 runs from Caloocan to Fort Bonifacio, and Phase 4 from Clark to San Fernando, La Union.

As Cortez explains it, once completed as envisioned by 2008, North Rail will serve three purposes: as a commuter line for residents of Bulacan to Metro Manila; as a special transport service for airline passengers to and from Fort Bonifacio and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark; and to ferry passengers and cargo to and from Manila and the Freeport Zones in Subic, Clark and the rest of Northern Luzon. Once completed, North Rail foresees being able to bridge the distance from Metro Manila to La Union in as little as four hours!

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ONE of the biggest issues being raised against North Rail at this time is the number of urban poor families who will be dislocated. Concerns have been raised about the company's plans for the relocation of communities that have been living along the railroad tracks for decades, and whether adequate facilities have been offered them in exchange for vacating the easement properties.

Cortez stresses that the relocation of the railroad communities is primarily the responsibility of local government units that have received funding from North Rail to carry out the demolition of the shantytowns and the relocation of the communities. North Rail is likewise consulting with the National Housing Authority on the construction of low-cost houses in the resettlement sites.

It must be stressed that railway lines have generous easements primarily for safety reasons. It has always been dangerous for both the train system and for the residents to have entire communities living right on the edge of train tracks. That entire communities have sprung up all along the busier sections of our railways is proof of the benign neglect of our railway authorities as well as of local and national governments, as well as our casual disregard for public safety.

I only hope those legislators striving to block the North Rail project by citing the welfare of the families to be dislocated don't mean to suggest that some of those living along the railways should be allowed to remain where they are. This is not only reckless, but populism in its worst form. Sometimes, we just have to bite the bullet if we want progress to take place.