MALOLOS CITY — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced in his 5th State of the Nation Address that the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) will begin its first operations from Valenzuela City to Malolos City in December 2027.
It will be the first time since the 1990s that trains will run on the same PNR route. The project revives a 1994 plan for a fast railway from Metro Manila to Malolos and eventually to Clark International Airport in Pampanga.
According to DOTr Communications Head Robert James De Roque, 2,761 meters of the 56,056-meter twin-track railway toward Malolos have been laid. Next will be the installation of electro-mechanical systems, including catenaries that will power the trains.
The NSCR will initially run 7 trainsets. Two are already undergoing initial testing at the depot on the Meycauayan-Valenzuela boundary. Two more will arrive in July and November 2026, and three more from Japan are expected by mid-2027.
In total, the NSCR will have 51 commuter trainsets running from Clark International Airport to Calamba, Laguna, plus 7 express trainsets that will stop at key stations: Clark Airport, Malolos, Tutuban, Nichols, Alabang, and Calamba. All trainsets were built new in Japan.
Construction progress for the Valenzuela to Mabalacat section has reached 65%. Work is also ongoing from Blumentritt to Calamba.
The 147-kilometer NSCR will be the longest railway project in the country and the Philippines’ first airport railway, with a station directly in front of Clark International Airport. It will also connect with the Metro Manila Subway at the FTI station in Taguig.
The DOTr followed the old PNR alignment for the NSCR route.
The post NSCR’s 1st run from Valenzuela to Malolos set for December 2027 first appeared on Pampanga News Now.