MANILA — The Philippine National Railways (PNR) on Tuesday said it was eyeing to complete a part of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project by 2026.

PNR Chairman Michael Macapagal said he was confident that the P873.6-billion project's initial phase, which includes 8 stations from Malolos, Bulacan to Valenzuela City, will be finished in about 3 years.

Once completed, the usual hour-long journey between Bulacan and the northern part of Metro Manila could be shortened to only 20 minutes.

The entire NSCR project, meanwhile, is eyed to be completed by 2028, the year when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. concludes his term of office.

The 147-kilometer, 35-station railway will connect the Pampanga, Bulacan, and Laguna provinces with the National Capital Region. It will have an 800,000-passenger capacity daily with 50 train sets that have 8 cars each.

On Tuesday, Macapagal conducted a site inspection of the NSCR's Balagtas station in Bulacan, which was 69 percent complete as of last April.

“Unfortunately, because of the pandemic. It was briefly halted. But now we are in full force. We expect this project to finish before the end of the term of President Marcos Jr," he said.

PNR will cut the partial operability from Malolos to Valenzuela by 2026, pending construction at the Tutuban area as they face right-of-way issues. But the problem is "being resolved," Macapagal said.

PNR's contractor will install the tracks from Malolos to Valenzuela in the coming months.

“We’re hoping by the end of the month onboard na sila for Malolos to Valenzuela,” said Engr. Jojo Geron, deputy manager of the NSCR Phase 1 project.

Last October, PNR halted its train services between Alabang, Muntinlupa City, and Calamba, Laguna to make way for NSCR's civil works, with the suspension expected to last at least 5 years.

Before that, the PNR stopped its daily services between Governor Pascual, Malabon City, and Calamba, as well as between Alabang and Calamba.

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