The Department of Transportation (DOTr) temporarily suspended beginning 2 July this year the daily operations of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) along the Alabang to Calamba route to give way for the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR).
The agency said only two trips are affected by the route’s closure—the 4:38AM and the 7:56PM scheduled trips patronized by 467 commuters who take it every day.
According to DOTr undersecretary for railways Cesar B. Chavez, an elevated, double-track and electrified train system will be built directly above the existing PNR tracks, speeding up the construction of the NSCR by eight months.
The new NSCR system will replace the PNR’s present street level, single track and diesel locomotive set-up.
While the NSCR is being constructed along the route, the following PNR stations will be temporarily unavailable: Alabang, Muntinlupa, San Pedro, Biñan, Sta. Rosa, Cabuyao, Mamatid, and Calamba.
Co-financed by the Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency, the 147-km NSCR is designed to reduce travel time from Clark Airport to Calamba in Laguna to two hours from 4 to 4.5 hours.
Totaling 35 stations, the NSCR can service 800,000 passengers daily and generate 110,000 direct and indirect jobs during its construction.
Partial NSCR operations is seen starting the third quarter of 2026 and full operations by 2029.
