-
Funding for a feasibility study for a Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas Railway is being prepared to establish a logistics corridor in Luzon
-
The railway is a flagship project under the Luzon Economic Corridor
-
The establishment of the corridor was announced at the trilateral summit with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last April 2024
Funding for a feasibility study for a Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas freight railway is being prepared, the Department of Transportation said in a statement.
This is after President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. mentioned the railway line at the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, according to Transportation Undersecretary Planning and Project Development Timothy John Batan.
The railway is a flagship project under the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC), which aims to support connectivity between the four points. The establishment of the corridor was first announced after the trilateral summit among Marcos, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last April.
READ: Subic to Batangas cargo railway eyed as Luzon Economic Corridor flagship project
Batan said they are working with the Asian Development Bank, Sweden, and the United States Trade and Development Agency for the rail feasibility study.
“Kasalukuyan nating inaayos ang (Right now we are preparing for a feasibility study for) Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas kasama ang (together with) Asian Development Bank, Sweden, and USTDA (United States Trade and Development Agency),” Batan said during the government’s recent post-State of the Nation Address discussions.
The Philippines, United States and Japan this year announced they intend to develop the LEC as the latest economic corridor of the Group of Seven (G7) Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI).
Through the PGI, the G7—an intergovernmental political and economic forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the US—aims to mobilize up to $600 billion by 2027 in order to narrow the infrastructure investment gap in partner countries.
The new railway project is an extension of the Subic-Clark Railway Project (SCRP), a 71-kilometer line intended to connect the Port of Subic Bay and Clark International Airport in Pampanga. The project stalled since the Philippine government withdrew from loan negotiations with China in 2023. This led to a new study for the longer Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas Rail line, Batan explained.
In a press briefing on July 5, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas freight rail feasibility study on the will hopefully be completed before end of the year or early next year.
The study will be submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority for approval “and then we’ll look for funders,” Bautista said.
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual earlier said project design for the $3.2-billion railway is “on track for completion by 2026, with construction set to commence in 2027.”
With a length of 250 kilometers, the project connects two ports, one in Subic and the other in Batangas, passing through Metro Manila.
