Metro Manila, Philippines – Commuter trains between Valenzuela City and Malolos, Bulacan will begin partial operations in December 2027 under the revised implementation timeline for the North-South Commuter Railway approved by the Economy and Development Council.
Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said Thursday, Sept. 17, that the council, chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., approved adjustments to the NSCR schedule amid procurement and right-of-way challenges and efforts to manage government spending.
“Nagkaroon po ng kaunting pagbabago tungkol sa timeline dahil alam naman po natin na nagkaroon ng medyo pagtitipid, pag-iingat sa pondo ng bayan at nahirapan po sa mga procurements and maliban pa po diyan ay nagkakaroon din po ng isyu sa right of way,” Castro said.
[Translation: There were some changes to the timeline because of efforts to manage spending and exercise greater care in the use of public funds. There have also been difficulties with procurement and right-of-way issues.]
Under the revised schedule, the Valenzuela-Malolos section will be the first to begin partial operations in December 2027.
The government targets to open the Malolos-Clark section in the fourth quarter of 2028.
Partial operations covering Clark-Solis and Alabang-Calamba are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2031, while full operations of the entire Clark-Calamba line are in the third quarter of 2033.
“So, usually po ang mga amendments nito ay iyong mga timelines lang po at medyo may pag-a-adjust din po ng kaunti sa budget,” Castro said.
[Translation: Usually, the amendments involve the timelines, along with some adjustments to the budget.]
The December 2027 target gives a more specific timetable for the initial Valenzuela-Malolos service, which Marcos had previously said would begin operating next year.
In his State of the Nation Address in July, Marcos announced that NSCR trains would begin running between Valenzuela and Malolos in 2027. He also said the Department of Transportation would work to extend operations to Clark before the end of his administration in 2028.
Under the newly approved timeline, partial operations between Malolos and Clark are targeted for the fourth quarter of 2028.
The NSCR is envisioned as a major railway backbone connecting Metro Manila with Central Luzon and Calabarzon.
The system consists of a 37.75-kilometer railway from Tutuban to Malolos, a 52.65-kilometer extension from Malolos to Clark, and a 56.86-kilometer line from Solis in Manila to Calamba, Laguna. The entire network is planned to have 35 stations.
The government expects the Tutuban-Malolos portion alone to eventually serve more than 300,000 passengers daily and cut travel time between the two areas to about 35 minutes.
The Marcos administration is proposing P123.84 billion for the NSCR under the 2027 national budget, more than four times the P28.79 billion allocated to the project under the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
