THE Philippine National Railways (PNR) is preparing a bus augmentation plan in place for commuters who will be affected by the suspension of the Alabang-Calamba train route starting July 2 as construction of the P873.62-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) begins.

PNR Chairman Michael Ted Macapagal said the move to provide an alternative means of transportation for the thousands of commuters was made upon the instructions of the Department of Transportation (DoTr).

Macapagal said they are coordinating closely with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to ensure the timely implementation of the bus augmentation plan.

The state-owned railway company and LTFRB are attached agencies of the DoTr.

Macapagal said under the plan, LTFRB will approve the franchise of additional buses that will ply the routes that will be affected by the suspension of operations of the Alabang to Calamba train service.

PNR stations that will be unavailable for use once the NSCR construction starts are those in Alabang, Muntinlupa, San Pedro, Biñan, Sta. Rosa, Cabuyao, Mamatid and Calamba.

On the other hand, at least two trips will be affected by the closure: 4:38 a.m. and 7:56 p.m. Around 467 commuters take each train trip daily.

Macapagal said the original proposal was to relocate the tracks so that the trains could continue operating even while the construction is underway.

The proposal was shelved because that would entail a substantial expense, up to P4 billion, and disrupt the progress of the civil works project.

The government aims to complete the NSCR in five years. It will be a 36-station, 147-km railway system from New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac to Calamba, Laguna.

An elevated, double-track and electrified train system will be built directly above the existing PNR tracks. This will speed up the NSCR construction by eight months.

Once the project is completed, PNR will be able to service roughly 800,000 passengers daily. Travel time for the entire length of the railway system will be cut in half to two hours.

A total of 51 local train sets and seven express train sets will be deployed. The local trains will load and unload passengers in each of the 35 stations, while the express trains are faster since they will make fewer stops, Macapagal said.

Two Japanese firms, Sumitomo Corp. and Japan Transport Engineering Co., will supply the trains while the Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency are financing the project.