The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board may approve its funding support for the South Commuter Railway Project (SCRP) by the fourth quarter of the year.
The Manila-based multilateral development bank said the submission and opening of bids included contracts for elevated stations and a 22-hectare train depot recently attracted a record high of 34 bids from a total of 23 local and international engineering and construction firms.
ADB said it has provided advisory services on the bidding process under its Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility (IPIF). The facility finances project feasibility studies, procurement of consultants, detailed engineering, and preparing bid documents, among others.
“We congratulate the Department of Transportation and the Philippine National Railways [PNR] on the successful bidding turnout, which reflects robust local and global interest and confidence in the Philippines’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure development program and for a strong post-pandemic economic recovery,” said ADB Philippines Country Director Kelly Bird.
Based on ADB documents, the proposed funding for the SCRP will amount to $4.3 billion. The funding will be obtained from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and co-financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The Philippine government recently held successful biddings for civil works contracts for a combined 40.5 kilometers (km) of viaduct structures for the railway project.
SCRP, also called PNR-Calamba, is a key component of the 147-km North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) system that will reshape the country’s mass transportation network.
It will cut travel time from the Clark International Airport in Pampanga north of Metro Manila to Calamba City in the south to 1.5 hours from more than 4 hours. The entire railway system is expected to carry up to a million passengers daily.
The project is included in ADB’s country operations business plan for the Philippines. It links to another ADB-funded railway, the Malolos-Clark Railway Project approved by ADB in May 2019, a modern, elevated railway line that will connect northern provinces to Metro Manila.
It will feature the country’s first airport express train, with the railway connecting to Clark International Airport. Five civil works contracts worth $2.5 billion under the project were awarded in 2020 and are now under implementation.