Villar to PNR: Don’t hike fares

The Senate government corporations and public enterprises committee chaired by Sen. Cynthia A. Villar appealed yesterday to the state-owned Philippine National Railways (PNR) to forego its plan to increase its fare charges.

The committee made the appeal as the PNR resumed yesterday its commuter line service after getting the go-signal to resume operations from its service provider, TUV Rheinland USA.

During the repair of the PNR tracks following a train derailment last April 29, Villar noted that “more than 70,000 commuters resorted to other modes of transportation and paid higher fares when the trips stopped for almost three months.”

“Although the suspension took longer than expected, we understand that the safety of commuters is the foremost consideration. With repairs and improvements in place, we look forward to a better service for our commuters,” she added.

Villar was the principal sponsor of the bill extending the corporate life of PNR to another 50 years.

She explained that she had the chance to personally check the progress of repairs being done on the railway tracks when she joined a test run from Tutuban to Buendia station last June 19 with PNR General Manager Allan Dilay.

The PNR reportedly lost at least million because of the suspension “and the natural tendency is to recoup this loss,” Villar said.

“We are doing a great disservice to the public if we implement a fare hike now. Our commuters, in a way, incurred losses when they had to be inconvenienced and pay more to get to their schools and work places,” she stressed.