PNR to acquire 7 train sets from Indonesia

PHILIPPINE National Railways ( PNR) will purchase seven train sets worth more than P2 billion to improve its reliability and serve more passengers.

Under a contract signed with Indonesian governmentowned PT Industri Kereta Api ( PT INKA) at a Manila hotel late Monday, PNR will acquire four diesel multiple unit train sets worth $ 21.4 million ( P1.13 billion) and three diesel hydraulic train sets worth $ 26 million ( P1.37 billion).

These are expected to be delivered by December 2019.

According to PNR General Manager Junn Magno, who signed the contract with PT INKA President Budi Noviantoro, the reason diesel hydraulic sets were chosen is because - waters.

The PNR, he said, currently operates 11 sets with reliability issues that prevent them from sustaining frequency.

The PNR line, which runs from Tutuban in Manila to

Philippine National Railways (PNR) General Manager Junn Magno (left) accepts from PT Industri Kereta Api (PT INKA) President Budi Noviantoro a model train unit during the contract signing on the PNR’s purchase of seven train sets from PT INKA on May 28.

Mamatid village in Laguna province’s Cabuyao city, serves about 70,000 passengers daily.

Magno said the new train sets would be used in the Manila-

South corridor, while the old ones would be rehabilitated.

“We’ll rehabilitate them in the next months. Perhaps, we could use them to start the Naga-Legazpi commuter service,”

he added in Filipino.

The PNR also plans to open a cargo service between Tutuban and the Pier in mid-2019, the general manager said.