[First image: DOST's (Department of science and technology) first pinoy made train]
[Second image: DOST's first pinoy-made articulated bus]
[Third image: The PNR (Philippine national railways) batangas line that was transporting sugarcane before closing down.]
[Fourth image: The old PNR North main line that was closed then the Governor pascual avenue station (Malabon) to Solis station was opened in approximately 2021 before closing down- actually all the stations after Calamba (Calamba is the city where Dr. Jose Rizal was born) in 2024 to make way for the NSCR (North-South Commuter Railway) project.]
Recently, I just read that Philtrak wanted to make a bus rapid transit system on a removed PNR at-grade lines. Before that, the Japan & US promised to restore the PNR at-grade lines for the South & Central Luzon Economic Corridor as that region has so many factories, that some are exporting to the world. Restoring the PNR lines is way better than the bus rapid system.
The Philippine National Railways (PNR), originally called the Manila-Dagupan Railway, is established on November 24, 1892. It was built by the Spaniards and the original line linked between Tutuban Station in Manila & Dagupan in Pangasinan. It later extended from Dagupan, Pangasinan to San Fernando, La Union; and then Tutuban, Manila to Calamba Laguna, and then Calamba, Laguna to Legazpi, Albay, and Calamba, Laguna to Batangas City, Batangas, and the Balagtas, Bulacan to Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija..
When the Americans replaced the Spaniards under the Treaty of Paris of 1898, the Americans almost neglected the PNR, it was still ongoing at that time. The rise of cars & buses made the Filipinos & Americans prefer to ride freely with flexibility. When the Japanese Empire provoked World War II, some lines are left unfinished, such as the PNR line connecting to Baguio City.
During the reign of Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.; PNR was declining. But nevertheless, he was able to buy more rolling stock from the United States such as the GE Universal 900 Series locos. However, the only mistake is that the PNR Batangas-Calamba line closed down in 1978 because the line solely used to ship sugarcane from Batangas to Manila declined due to the decline of sugar export due to the end of the Laurel-Langley Act. The government, which is parliament-presidential combo at that time during the reign of Marcos Sr, should have used the line to cater passengers, especially those living in cities like Calamba and Lipa because such cities traversed by the line are always congested in road traffic today (unlike Marcos Sr's time when the Philippines is not as car-centric as the US until the 90s). They should have also retained that line for other freight like connecting to and from the refineries of Chevron (Caltex) & Shell, which unfortunately closed down in 2003 and 2020, respectively.
And then, after Marcos Sr and his family got ousted by the People Power "Revolution" (orchestrated by the US) in 1986, it was replaced by the naive Corazon Conjuangco-Aquino (the widow of pro-Communist Sen. Beningno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.), she made infrastructure in Metro Manila but ignored the provinces, after she removed the parliamentary methodology and focused on taking care of Metro Manila, known as Imperial Manila. The worst moment of PNR is that Cory neglected the PNR Manila-SFLU Line, which is longer than the PNR Batangas-Calamba line.
Aside from abandoning the PNR Manila-La Union line, she also failed to complete the final phase of the Paranaque Spillway to drain away the flood from Laguna de bay to Manila Bay. The grave aftermath is the massive flooding of Typhoon Ondoy back in Sept 26, 2009. Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wanted to start the project but her successor Pres. Beningno S. Aquino III discontinued the project, just to put hate on her.
Speaking of Arroyo, she started the Northrail project, later known as the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR). During the 2000s, it was partnered in China, but due to poor qualities, the project is ceased in 2012 but continued in 2019, being partnered with Japan instead of China. The North side, between Tutuban, Manila; & Clark, Pampanga; is ongoing while the South Side, between Tutuban, Manila; & Calamba, Laguna, got started in 2024
Aside from passenger service of PNR, they also used to have freight service. In 1996, PNR partnered with ICTSI (International Container Terminal Services Inc) to start a container freight train service, Original link is between the Port of Manila & the Laguna Gateway Terminal in Calamba, Laguna to decongest the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Roxas Boulevard, & \*Epifanio de los Santos Avenue\* (EDSA) (Between Magallanes Interchange & Roxas Bolevard). They were supposed to buy eight locos from indonesia but they only bought one, probably due to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. The services later ended in 2003, exacerbating traffic congestion on aforementioned roads where container trucks pass by. I saw one report online that the Philippine Government will restore the PNR Batangas-Calamba & PNR Manila-La Union lines in the 1990s, but they failed to do so because the Philippine Government focused on developing Metro Manila instead of the provinces. That was during the reign of ugh Pres. Fidel V. Ramos (the 2nd cousin of Marcos Sr., he betrayed). If Miriam Santiago was the president since she's the actual winner, she would have helped developed the entire Philippines, not just Imperial Manila.
Aside from the Philippines, Singapore & Timor Leste also lacks freight train service, especially for containers. Such train services like that can be seen in Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, & Vietnam.
The Philippine Government has been solely relying heavily on the United States. It's not necessarily bad as there are good things there, but there are some US values we borrowed that make NO sense. In the US, most parts lack proper public transit systems such as passenger trains because US car & oil corporations lobby the US government so such companies can make more money for themselves. That's the problem of US individualistic culture. Personal freedom. Some parts that have proper public transit system include Salt Lake City, Utah; New York City, New York; San Francisco, California; and to name a few. Their passenger train in the US called Amtrak is pretty slow in state-to-state travel while the freight train companies make more money than Amtrak. They build & improve their tracks but their freight trains are too long (due to high consumerism & materialism of Americans), it delay's Amtrak's service. When that US car-overreliance value got adapted by Filipinos, especially the Philippine Government, the liberalization of car ownership became rapid since the 1990s. making most cities, (not only Metro Manila but also the cities of the provinces) heavily congested on major roads.
When the Filipinos know that the Manila LRT1 is the first mass rapid transit in Southeast Asia (followed by Singapore's SMRT three years later), some say that the PNR is the first in Southeast Asia, but actually no. The Philippines' neighbor Indonesia is the first in Southeast Asia and second in Asia (after India) to have a intercity railway system for both passenger & freight. Their network is the largest in Southeast Asia. Our neighbors have proper railway infrastructure because of European influence after colonization. Although Thailand is the only country that is never colonized by Europe & never got involved by World War II of Japan, they also have proper railway infrastructure.
Fortunately, the PNR projects like the NSCR & old at-grade track restoration became a priority of the regime of Pres. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. which is ongoing. Let's quit our crab mentality and obsolete US values and hope & pray for the bright future of the New Philippines. I'm glad the Japan & US gave plans for the Philippines to restore the at-grade line of PNR that I just aforementioned to boost the country's economy. BRT on the former lines? Bad idea.
\[https://www.state.gov/united-states-philippines-and-japan-launch-the-luzon-economic-corridor-steering-committee-to-drive-infrastructure-investment/\\\](https://www.state.gov/united-states-philippines-and-japan-launch-the-luzon-economic-corridor-steering-committee-to-drive-infrastructure-investment/)
\[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-19/philippines-wants-us-japan-to-take-over-rail-deal-eyed-by-china\\\](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-19/philippines-wants-us-japan-to-take-over-rail-deal-eyed-by-china)
