ADB Prepares Financial Support for PNR Calamba Railway

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is preparing financial support for the Philippine National Railways’ (PNR) Php 345-billion Calamba railway project.

This comes immediately after the project attracted a record-high number of bids early this month, as reported by the Philippine News Agency. Its contract package included viaduct structures, elevated stations, and a 22-hectare train depot. A total of 34 bids for the contract package came from 23 local and international engineering and construction firms. 

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Funding for the development’s 40.5-kilometer viaduct structures, also known as the South Commuter Railway Project, is set for “consideration” by ADB’s board in the fourth quarter, according to an article published by Manila Bulletin. 

ADB will be loaning $4.25 billion for the project, which is set to be the country’s biggest loan from ADB for the transport and mobility system sector this year. The loan is part of ADB’s $15 billion financing business plan for the local transportation sector until 2023.

More infrastructure projects underway

PNR Calamba is a key element in the 147-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) network which is set to slash travel time from Clark International Airport in Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna from over four hours to just 1.5 hours. 

NSCR was co-financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and ADB. It will feature 37 stations, 464 train cars or 58 train sets, and is expected to carry up to 1 million passengers daily.

The railway system will feature the Philippines’ first airport express train from Clark International Airport. Five civil works contracts under the project valued at $2.5 billion were awarded in 2020 and are now currently in development.  

NSCR is also linked to the 53-kilometer Malolos-Clark Railway Project, another project funded by ADB. In 2019, the bank loaned almost $2.75 billion worth of funding towards the infrastructure project.

The 53.1-kilometer Malolos-Clark Railway line is ADB’s flagship Philippine project. To date, it’s the largest project under the government’s Build! Build! Build! program and the bank’s largest financing package for a single project.

It’s set to connect Malolos to the Clark International Airport (CIA) and the Clark economic zone in Pampanga, cutting the travel time between the locations from three hours by bus to just one hour by train. The project’s aim is to boost economic growth in regional growth hubs like Clark, Pampanga and reduce congestion in Metro Manila and nearby areas. 

A boon for Calamba and Clark

Both Calamba and Clark have long since been hailed as emerging investment hubs. These locations were dubbed “digital cities” by the Department of Information and Communications Technology because of their robust information technology and business process management facilities. Their respective provinces, Laguna and Pampanga, are also known as prime industrial centers. 

Lamudi’s outlook report for the first quarter of the year recorded a growing interest for these areas, with Calamba being one of the few cities in Luzon outside of Metro Manila posting an impressive number of leads, which may only increase with the completion of these structures.

In the same report, Lamudi credits these big-ticket infrastructure projects, like the PNR Calamba railway and North-South Commuter Railway in Calamba and Clark, with improving mobility between Metro Manila and nearby provincial cities.

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As the ease of travel between the capital region and fringe provincial areas improves, land values in these key areas unlock. This gives commercial property seekers more incentive to invest because of a more advantageous price per square meter in contrast to properties in central business districts. 

These incentives are projected to draw in more local and international investors to these areas, according to Lamudi’s forecast report published earlier this year.

The report also notes that the shift in market behavior as a result of the pandemic is another reason for the sustained demand for properties in these areas. As businesses had to adapt to strict lockdown protocols by shifting to online services, the need for properties with plenty of warehousing and logistics opportunities like Laguna and Pampanga peaked.

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Article and Photo originally posted by Lamudi last August 4, 2021.

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