Old stations of the Philippine National Railway (PNR) have begun to be dismantled to give way to the upcoming NSCR.
On Thursday, September 18, acting Transportation Sec. Giovanni Lopez inspected the demolition works at the Cabuyao station of the PNR in Laguna with Asec. IC Calaguas and Mayor Dennis Hain.
It is one of the 10 stops where the works have begun to be carried out simultaneously, with Usec. for Railways Timothy John Batan and Muntinlupa Mayor Rozzano Rufino Biazon leading the charge in Alabang, while Asec. Eddan Macabulos was at the Bicutan Station.
Other old PNR stations that have been dismantled were Blumentritt, Sucat, Muntinlupa, Biñan, San Pedro, Sta. Rosa and Mamatid.
“Simultaneous po ang paggiba ng mga istasyon ng PNR. Sampu po ito all the way from Sta. Mesa,” noted Lopez.
He added, “At bakit importante po ito? Kasi kung mapapansin niyo po, bungi po ‘yung viaduct natin. At ito lang ang isang paraan para matuloy na ang ating proyekto. At hindi rin po natin magagawa ito kapag wala ang tulong ng lokal na pamahalaan.”
Lopez also expects to resolve all right-of-way issues in the southern portion of the NSCR by 2026.
“Makikita niyo naman na tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang trabaho ng DOTr. Ito rin ‘yung sinasabi ng Pangulo na huwag dapat huminto ang mga trabaho ng DOTr at attached agencies nito,” Lopez said.
In line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the acting Transportation chief has also ordered the swift construction of the Manila-Laguna segment of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR).
The entire NSCR system is slated to be completed by the year 2032. Although, partial operations from Malolos to Valenzuela is set to happen in 2027, followed by the Malolos-Clark segment in 2028.
800,000 commuters are expected to be served by this project daily once it has been finished.