Philippines Rail Project Sets Japan Oda Record

• 31 December 2015
• Local News
• 1097 Views

Japan has pledged its largest ODA (Overseas Development Assistance) ever provided to a partner nation with $2bn for the construction of a commuter train line in the Philippines.

The move is an integral part of the “Cooperation Roadmap for Quality Infrastructure Development in the Transport Sector in Metropolitan Manila” which the two nations agreed in June.

The loan package is intended for the construction of the first phase of the $6.4bn North-South Commuter Rail (NSCR) Project, a 36.7km narrow-gauge elevated commuter railway from Malolos, Bulacan province to Tutuban in Manila.

“The train system is expected to transport 340,000 passengers daily,” according to the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs.

Local transportation officials hope the railway project’s construction could begin in the first quarter of 2017 so it can be completed by 2020 and start operations in the same year.