NEDA-Davao ordered to fast-track study on Mindanao railway system

DAVAO CITY — The Davao Region office of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is aiming to complete the feasibility study for the planned Mindanao Railway System (MRS) by end- September this year following an order to prioritize the project.

“We were instructed by the (NEDA) central office to fast-track the feasibility study of the MRS as it is part of the Mindanao Infrastructure Investment” program, Regional Director Ma. Lourdes Lim said in an interview.

Ms. Lim said the agency has conducted a business case study for the 2,000-kilometer railway system, first proposed under the Ramos administration, to determine the viability of the project, “and it’s a go.”

The initial proposal was to set up the MRS along coastal areas, but was later redesigned due to cost considerations.

The MRS will traverse the Digos-DavaoTagum urban areas in the south, then connect to the northern cities of Butuan, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City. Another railway system will be built to connect Zamboanga del Sur to Zamboanga City on the western side, then linked to Cagayan de Oro and to Malungon in Sarangani.

Once the feasibility study is completed, it will be reviewed by the NEDA Board and an inter- agency cabinet cluster that will then decide on the appropriate financing scheme for the project.

NEDA Director- General Ernesto M. Pernia last week said China, Japan and South Korea have indicated interest in the MRS project.

Mr. Pernia said the MRS can be built through official development assistance funding or a combination of various financing schemes.

The feasibility study is looking at all available technology for the train system, including the locally developed Automated Guideway Transit (AGT), which is being pushed by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).

“The AGT can act as a primary mass transportation in Davao City and other areas in Mindanao looking for an alternative means of transportation to address the traffic congestion,” Engineer Rodel O. Tamayo, chief of the DoST Materials and Process Research Division, told BusinessWorld in a separate interview.

The DoST, through the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), spearheaded the design and development of the AGT as an alternative transport system.

Two years ago officials of Davao City visited the MIRDC in Bicutan to check on the AGT as the local government was looking into a possible public- private partnership agreement with a company that would build a train system for the city.

“The train set is one third cheaper than those imported even from China,” Mr. Tamayo said.

Utilizing these trains, he added, will create employment on the fabrication side as well as provide affordable mass transportation.