DOTr awards civil works deals for Manila-Calamba railway

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Thursday said it has awarded the first four civil works contract packages for the section of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) connecting Manila and Calamba, Laguna.

Particularly,  DOTr said that it awarded three contract packages to the joint venture of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. and Dong-Ah Geological Engineering Company Ltd..

These three contracts will cover the building and civil works for railway viaduct structure cover 8.5 kilometers including elevated stations at Alabang and Muntinlupa; 12.8 kilometers including elevated stations at San Pedro, Pacita Biñan, and Santa Rosa; and 10.2 kilometers including elevated stations at Cabuyao, Banlic, and Calamba.

Mean while, the fourth contract package was awarded to the joint venture of Lotte Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd., Gülermak A??r Sanayi ?n?aat ve Taahhüt A.?. and EEI Corporation.

This will cover the building and civil engineering works for the 22-hectare Calamba Depot.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in June approved a $4.3-billion loan financing program for the southern portion of the project.

“The remaining ADB-financed civil works contract packages will be awarded soon and will cover the Manila (Blumentritt) to Muntinlupa portion of the NSCR,” the DOTr said.

The NSCR is the ADB’s largest infrastructure financing in Asia and the Pacific to date, with the agency also financing the construction of the Malolos-Clark Railway Project, which covers the northern segment of the network.

According to ADB Deputy Director General for Southeast Asia Winfried Wicklein, the project will create as much as 35,000 construction jobs and over 3,000 permanent jobs during the railway operation.

“This project will open tremendous opportunities for economic integration across Metro Manila and neighboring provinces and create a significant positive impact on the local economy,” he was quoted as saying in a separate statement.

As planned, the project is set to have 18 elevated at-grade stations, cutting travel time from Manila to Calamba by over half from the current 2.5 hours by road. It will also be connected to the Metro Manila Subway.

Once operational, the South Commuter Railway is expected to accommodate 600,000 passengers daily by 2040.

Originally, the NSCR was envisioned to be the biggest railway project of the administration of former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

It was planned to have a northern segment connecting Malolos, Bulacan to Tutuban, Manila, and the southern portion connecting Tutuban to as far south as Matnog, Sorsogon. —LBG, GMA News