In his recent State of the Nation Address on Monday, President Duterte vowed to improve the country’s aging railway systems and pursue new rail and mass transit projects in the country.
Duterte outlined his administration’s plans for Metro Manila’s railway systems: “Passenger capacity congestion shall be addressed by increasing the number of running trains from the current 16 trains with a total of 48 cars per hour, to 20 trains with a total of 60 cars per hour.” He also proposed to increase the trains’ speed limit from 40 kph to 60 kph, along with an extension of the LRT’s operating hours from 9:30 pm to 10:30 pm to accommodate more passengers.
The President also enumerated several rail and transit projects to be undertaken during his term: the Mindanao Rail Project, the Davao Transit System, the Cebu Transit System, the North and South Luzon Railways, and the Panay Railways project. “Hindi ako nagyayabang pero totoo talaga ‘to. Well, depende sa federal. But six years, lalabas talaga ito. I assure you because it’s going to materialize,” he declared.
