The feasibility study on the planned freight train project linking Subic in Zambales and Clark in Pampanga is now underway and expected to conclude later this year, according to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).
The study for the Subic-Clark Railway project is being conducted by China Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. (CHEC), an international contractor that provides services under engineering-procurement-construction, build-operate-transfer, and public-private-partnership arrangements. It is present in 80 countries with an infrastructure portfolio that includes marine engineering; dredging and reclamation; and road and bridge, railway, airport, and equipment assembly.
CHEC is one of the companies that pledged investments in Philippine infrastructure projects following the state visit to China in June 2016 of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The feasibility study is expected to be completed by the third quarter of the year. The government eyes finishing the Subic-Clark Railway project before the current administration’s term ends.
SBMA seaport general manager Jerome Martinez said data gathering is now underway and involves counting the number of cargo trucks along the route, their destinations, and the rates.
The project is part of the P100-billion elevated coastal highway and railway system linking Subic to Clark Economic Zone and the Port of Manila, Martinez noted.
The Subic-Clark Railway is also among the priority infrastructure projects of the Department of Transportation.
