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| DOTR photo |
The construction of the first phase of the P85 Billion Mindanao Railway Project, which covers the Tagum-Davao-Digos segment, is expected to start in January next year and is targeted to be operational by 2021 before the term of President Rodrigo R. Duterte ends.
“We hope to finish the right of way (ROW) acquisition along the alignment and the stations by December 2018. We expect to award the winning contractor, since this is a design and build contract, also by end of this year so we can start construction of railway by January next year,” Mindanao Railway System (MRS) Project Manager Patricia Melizza B. Ruivivar said in an interview.
Ruivivar, who presented the Mindanao Railway System Project to the City Council yesterday, said the MRS is a priority project of the president and he wants it to be operational a year before he leaves the office in 2022.
“We need the support of the local government units because they will play a big role in the implementation of a project as big as the Mindanao Railway,” she said. Mr. Duterte, who was previously mayor of Davao City, wants the LGUs to lead in the negotiations for the site acquisition since they know and are familiar with the landowners where the project will traverse.
Ruivivar said allowing the LGUs to take the lead in the land acquisition makes sense as it will prevent overpricing of the land, and prevent corruption in the negotiations since the LGU has a more transparent process. This will also allow the project to gain support down to the barangay level.
The government is set to purchase the properties traversed by the railway following the fair market value so this will be good news for landowners.
Phase 1 or the Tagum-Davao-Digos Railways is a 102-kilometer segment. The Tagum-Davao-Digos railway is the first of the three MRP segments and it is expected to reduce travel time from Tagum City, Davao del Norte, to Digos City, Davao del Sur from 3.5 hours to 1.3 hours.
The first phase of the Mindanao Railway System, which was already approved, is a one-track locomotive with a budget of P36 Billion to be funded by the General Appropriations Act (GAA) which will already be reflected in the national budget up to 2021.
The detailed engineering design for the MRP-TDD or segment 1 of the railway is ongoing since the approved budget of P9 Billion which is already reflected int he GAA will initially be allocated for that.
However, she said, there is a need to get another approval from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to change the project from a single locomotive to the original proposal of a two-track electrified railway.
The single locomotive railway means the passengers have to wait for the train to return (after a trip) while the two-track electrified railway will mean a train is readily available.
“We hope to get the NEDA approval by August and by November the bid documents will also be released and awarded by December this year,” she said.
Ruivivar said there is a need for each LGU to come up with a comprehensive plan for each of the municipality or city that will be traversed by the railway. She said there is a need to develop the stations and that includes the related commercial development in the area including parking lots and tourism establishments.
“The LGUs should prepare; we did not have a train ever so we don;t know how to plan for a railway. The LGUs need support since the country’s railway industry is not in an advanced stage,” she said.
She said academic institutions should prepare by opening engineering courses that will focus on how to build, manage and operate railways and a train station. “We want the City Council’s support to develop a plan on education human resource to support the development of the railway industry,” she added.
Upon completion and start of operations in 2022, the Mindanao Railways System Phase 1 is expected to reduce travel time from Tagum City, Davao del Norte, to Digos City, Davao del Sur from 3.5 hours to 1.3 hours.
At present a bus ride from Davao City to Tagum will take more or less two hours during the early part of the day. However, a bus ride from Tagum City to Davao during peak hours when there is traffic can take two to three hours.
With the railway system in place, daily ridership within the Tagum-Davao-Digos segment is expected increase to 134,060 by 2022. The Department of Transportation projects the daily ridership to further increase to 237,023 by 2032 and 375,134 by 2042.
Meanwhile, Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Assistant Secretary Romeo M. Montenegro said the changes in the project description will not derail the project.
“Whether it is a one or two-track locomotive, it will still have to pass through the initial stages of detailed engineering and ROW negotiations so the project is on track and the timeline still the same,” he added.
Montenegro the project has a multi-year allocation so it is important that the amount and the description be amended to be reflected in the next GAAs. DOTr has already recommended the changes to the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) of NEDA.
“The major challenge in starting the project now is in negotiating the Road Right of Way (ROW) as it will traverse privately-owned areas,” he said. One of the major issues in the negotiation is the variation in property valuation.
Phase 1 of the railway will have eight stations, namely: Tagum; Carmen; Panabo; Mudiang; Davao Terminal; Toril; Sta. Cruz; and Digos. A 10-hectare depot will be built in Tagum, Davao del Norte.
