Progress of Japan aid-funded railway projects on track, says DOTr chief

The progress of several Japan-funded railway projects in the Philippines are still on track for completion.

This was the commitment of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is in the country for a two-day official visit.

Bautista, in a statement, said that Kishida “would be happy to know that the Philippine side has lived up to its commitments, that despite challenges, we are on track to what we have committed to deliver.”

The Transportation chief added that Japan has long been supporting the Philippines’ ambitious rail expansion.

In particular, about nine Philippine big-ticket transport infrastructure initiatives, five of which are railway projects, two aviation, and two maritime are being built on the back of ¥1.503 trillion worth of Japanese aid.

The five railway projects are the LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension, LRT Line 2 East Extension, MRT Line 3 Rehabilitation and Maintenance, North-South Commuter Rail System, and Metro Manila Subway Project.

Bautista said Kishida hails from a country “with 150 years of experience in rail development, with 30,000 kilometers of rail, with 25 billion riders a year.”

“There are no better senseis than these  kind, compassionate, generous, hardworking and honest people. The Philippine railways sector has been a recipient of billions of pesos in Japanese aid,” the Transportation chief said.

“PM Kishida, long before he was Prime Minister, has been instrumental in funneling Japanese assistance to the country’s ambitious rail expansion,” he said.

Bautista said that when Kishida was still Japan’s Foreign Affairs Minister in 2017, “he was already a backer of our country’s drive to modernize our transportation system.”

“To us, Prime Minister Kishida has always been a member of the Philippine railways team. He's all aboard,” the DOTr chief said.

Kishida is scheduled to visit the subway project depot and its train simulator room located in Valenzuela City on Saturday, November 4.

Civil works are ongoing for the 36-kilometer Metro Manila Subway Project.

With 17 stations, the project is set to reduce travel time between Valenzuela City and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 from one hour and 30 minutes to 35 minutes.—AOL, GMA Integrated News