China Bails Out North Luzon Railway Project

By Anonymous

A CHINESE offer of massive financial and technical support has put the North Luzon Railway (North Rail) project in the Philippines back on track after delays of more than a decade. The railway will link the capital, Manila, with economic zones that have developed on former United States military facilities at Subic Bay naval base and Clarke air base.

Total cost of the project could be $US 864 million. The first phase, the Philippines’ first double-track railway line, should reach Malolos by 2008. The 32km line will be operated by 120km/h diesel trains, and reduce the commuting time from Malolos from one hour by car to half an hour by train. China’s Export-Import Bank is providing a loan of $US 421 million, which will cover 95% of funding for the first phase.

Much of the delay since the line was first proposed in the early 1990s has been caused by efforts to move thousands of squatters occupying land needed for construction of the line.

Copyright Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation Jan 2006