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The feasibility study on the Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas freight railway may be completed before yearend or early 2025, according to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista
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The study will be submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority for approval before seeking funding
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The railway was designated as a flagship project under the Luzon Economic Corridor with construction set to commence in 2027
The feasibility study on the Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas freight railway may be completed before yearend or early 2025, according to Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista.
The feasibility study will be submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority for approval “and then we’ll look for funders,” Bautista said in a media briefing on July 5.
The Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas railway was designated as a flagship project under the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC), which aims to support connectivity between Subic Bay, Clark, Manila, and Batangas in the Philippines.
READ: Subic to Batangas cargo railway eyed as Luzon Economic Corridor flagship project
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 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.
Bautista earlier said 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 that has been stalled since the Philippine government withdrew from loan negotiations with China.
Transportation assistant secretary for planning and project Leonel De Velez earlier said the SCRP would be “more viable and feasible if we connected it to other economic centers such as the Port of Manila and the Port of Batangas, linking all the different economic zones.”
“I believe there are a lot of economic centers still in CALABARZON so having this comprehensive railway system connecting that economic corridor is very vital for our country,” De Velez 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.”
READ: Construction of Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas railway to begin 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.
