Rail transportation in the Philippines is currently used mostly to transport passengers within Metro Manila and provinces of Laguna and Quezon, as well as a commuter service in the Bicol Region. Freight transport services once operated in the country, but these services were halted. However, there are plans to restore old freight services and build new lines. From a peak of , the country currently has a railway footprint of , of which only are operational as of , including all the urban rail lines. World War II, natural calamities, underspending, and neglect have all contributed to the decline of the Philippine railway network. In the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report, the Philippines has the lowest efficiency score among other Asian countries in terms of efficiency of train services, receiving a score of 2.4, and ranking 86th out of 101 countries globally. The government is currently expanding the railway network up to by 2022 through numerous projects.
The Philippine railway network consists of two commuter lines provided by the Philippine National Railways (PNR) and three urban mass transit lines operated by the Light Rail Transit Authority and Metro Rail Transit Corporation, all of which are located in Luzon. Within the last century, there were operating intercity rail lines extending from Manila both north and south operated by PNR. There were also lines on the Panay and Cebu islands, operated by Panay Railways, which currently does not own rolling stock or rail, only property. There were also short industrial railways in Negros Island operated by sugar mills such as the Hawaiian-Philippines Company.
History
Luzon
There has been rail transport in the Philippines for over 120 years. On June 25, 1875, King Alfonso XII of Spain promulgated a Royal Decree directing the Office of the Inspector of Public Works of the Philippines to submit a general plan for railroads on Luzon. The plan, which was submitted five months later by Don Eduardo Lopez Navarro, was entitled Memoria Sobre el Plan General de Ferrocarriles en la Isla de Luzón, and was promptly approved. A concession for the construction of a railway line from Manila to Dagupan was granted to Don Edmundo Sykes of the Ferrocarril de Manila-Dagupan on June 1, 1887. The construction and running of the railway was done by Manila Railway Company Ltd that was a British owned company. The first rail tracks were laid in 1891 and its first commercial run was in 1892.
With the American takeover of the Philippines, the Philippine Commission allowed the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (Meralco) to take over the properties of the Compañia de los Tranvias de Filipinas, with the first of twelve mandated electric tranvia (tram) lines operated by Meralco opening in Manila in 1905. At the end of the first year around 63 kilometers (39 mi) of track had been laid. A five-year reconstruction program was initiated in 1920, and by 1924, 170 cars serviced many parts of the city and its outskirts. Although it was an efficient system for the city's 220,000 inhabitants, by the 1930s the streetcar network had stopped expanding.
At the Tutuban Central Terminal in a bustling district of old Manila was the terminal of the Philippine National Railways for two lines, to the north and to the south. From the center of Manila towards Baguio in the north, the line ended in San Fernando, La Union while the south line stopped in Legazpi in the Bicol region. To and from these points it carried people and their goods, their trade and livelihood.
In 1936, the first standard-gauge railway was introduced to the Philippines in the form of two Climax locomotives for the Dahican Lumber Company (DALCO). These were originally built in 1917 for the San Joaquin and Eastern Railroad in California and were sold after their closure in 1933. In July 1941, a 3T type Shay locomotive was also acquired from the Finkbine-Guild Lumber Company. The status of this short-line railroad after the war remains unknown.
Most of the improvements on the rail network were destroyed during Japanese invasion of the Philippines during the World War II. Of the more than a thousand route-kilometers before the war, only 452 were operational after it. For several years after the war, work was undertaken on what could be salvaged of the railroad system. By the war's end, the tram network was also damaged beyond repair amid a city that lay in ruins. It was dismantled and jeepneys became the city's primary form of transportation, plying the routes once served by the tram lines. With the return of buses and cars to the streets, traffic congestion became a problem.
Decline and closure
Due to natural disasters and a lack of government support, railways began to decline in the post-war period. The funding during the 1970s was shifted to road-based infrastructure, such as the Philippine highway network. The PNR later became the attached agency of the then-Ministry of Transportation and Communications (now DOTr).
Some services began to close in 1984, with the North Main Line being cut short to Paniqui, Tarlac. It was again shortened to Meycauayan in 1988. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo would result in the closure of the entire line in 1991. The commuter services started in 1990, with a short extension to Malolos, but they were shut down in 1997. The South Main Line was also closed due to natural disasters, including the eruption of Mayon Volcano in 1993 and Typhoons Milenyo and Reming in 2006. This was also closed in October 2012 due to a derailment incident in Sariaya, Quezon and the ongoing disrepair of typhoon-damaged bridges. This would later close again in 2014, then in 2017.
Since then, the train system has been underinvested and the country has spent much more on road projects. Long, winding roads were made from these abandoned railways.
As noted by Robert Siy Jr., a co-convenor of the Move As One Coalition, while railways are beneficial, they require significant financial investment and have lengthy construction timelines.
Move As One also argue that instead of pouring the majority of public funds into capital-intensive railway systems, the government should redirect funding toward more immediate, accessible transport solutions, such as pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, upgraded bus terminals, and robust service contracting to directly support local transport operators.
Introduction of rapid transit In 1966, the Philippine government granted a franchise to Philippine Monorail Transport Systems (PMTS) for the operation of an inner-city monorail.Republic of the Philippines. (Approved: June 14, 1966). Republic Act No. 4652 – An Act Granting the Philippine Monorail Transit System, Incorporated a Franchise to Establish, Maintain and Operate a Monorail Transportation Service in the City of Manila and Suburbs and Cebu City and Province . Retrieved December 13, 2009, from the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. The monorail's feasibility was still being evaluated when the government asked the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to conduct a separate transport study. Prepared between 1971 and 1973, the JICA study proposed a series of circumferential and radial roads, an inner-city rapid transit system, a commuter railway, and an expressway with three branches. The master plan would be known as the Urban Transport Study for the Manila Metropolitan Area (UTSMMA). After further examination, many recommendations were adopted; however, none of them involved rapid transit and the monorail was never built. PMTS' franchise subsequently expired in 1974.Republic of the Philippines. (Enacted: October 4, 1971). Republic Act No. 6417 – An Act Amending Sections Three And Seven Of Republic Act Numbered Forty-Six Hundred Fifty-Two, Entitled "An Act Granting the Philippine Monorail Transit System, Incorporated a Franchise to Establish, Maintain and Operate a Monorail Transportation Service in the City Of Manila and Suburbs and Cebu City and Province" . Retrieved December 13, 2009, from the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library.
Another study was performed between 1976 and 1977, this time by Freeman Fox and Associates and funded by the World Bank. It originally suggested a street-level railway, but its recommendations were revised by the newly formed Ministry of Transportation and Communications (now the DOTr). The ministry instead called for an elevated system because of the city's many intersections.
MMETROPLAN disagreed with several of the assumptions and proposals of UTSMMA. For one, Freeman, Fox—and the World Bank—did not feel that the heavy rail transit advocated by the Japanese was suitable to Manila's conditions. “It would be hopelessly uneconomic,” they concluded, arguing against any form of segregated mass transit system. The report also says "These results are conclusive, and are unlikely to be changed by any circumstances or reasonable assumptions…it is clear that any other fully segregated public transport system, whether light rail or busway, would also be uneconomic. As such systems would require the appropriation of most, if not all, of the available funds for all transport (including highways) in Metro Manila for the foreseeable future, and as there is not other rationale for their implementation, they have been rejected from further consideration.”
President Ferdinand Marcos created the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) in 1980. The first lady Imelda Marcos, then governor of Metro Manila and minister of human settlements, became its first chairman. Construction of LRT Line 1 started in September 1981, test-run in March 1984, and the first half of the line from Baclaran to Central Terminal opened on December 1, 1984. The second half, from Central Terminal to Monumento, opened on May 12, 1985. Overcrowding and poor maintenance took its toll a few years after opening. With Japan's ODA amounting to 75 billion yen in total, the construction of LRT Line 2 began in 1997, and the first section of the line, from Santolan to Araneta Center-Cubao, was opened on April 5, 2003. The second section, from Araneta Center-Cubao to Legarda, was opened exactly a year later, with the entire line being fully operational by October 2004. During that time Line 1 was modernized. Automated fare collection systems using magnetic stripe plastic tickets were installed; air-conditioned trains added; pedestrian walkways between Lines 1, 2, and the privately operated 3 were completed. In 2005, the LRTA made a profit of ₱68 million, the first time the agency made a profit since the Line 1 became operational in 1984.
Rehabilitation In the early 2000s, the government worked to rehabilitate rail transportation in the country, including the Philippine National Railways, through various investments and projects. Total reconstruction of rail bridges and tracks, including replacement of the current 35-kilogram (77-pound) track with newer 50-kilogram (110-pound) tracks and the refurbishing of stations, were part of the rehabilitation and expansion process. Much of those plans such as the Northrail Project were controversial and were never completed, due to allegations of being overpriced and anomalous.
MRT Line 3, which deteriorated since 2014 due to poor maintenance, underwent rehabilitation from 2019 to 2021, restoring it to its original high-grade state.
Expansion As part of the government's recent investments in transportation in the country, numerous projects are ongoing to expand and rehabilitate the railways in Luzon. Projects include the North–South Commuter Railway, a line from New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac to Calamba, Laguna, the Metro Manila Subway, a underground rapid transit line from Quezon City to Taguig and NAIA Terminal 3, the LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension, which would extend the existing line from Baclaran to Niog, the MRT-7 would connect North Avenue to San Jose Del Monte, and the MRT-4 would connect Ortigas Center to Taytay.