A CARGO-train system operating in the capital’s port area will serve a two-pronged purpose: Decongest traffic in Metro Manila and improve efficiency in the cargo-transport sector, a transport group said on Saturday.
National Alliance of Transport Organizations (Nato) Executive Director Michael Salalima said his group supports the proposal of various prominent private and public transport and management groups to alleviate the chronic traffic congestion through a cargo rail-system project.
“A rail-based solution is a viable alternative to address the congestion in Metro Manila and its environs. Expanding the rail systems, both for more efficient cargo transport, as well as commuter relief, is the first step to decongest our major roads,” Salalima said.
The implementation of a container rail service is among the transport projects presented by Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade in his first 100 days in office during a business forum earlier this week.
“From a transport industry’s perspective, among the projects being considered by the transport department during the first three months of the Duterte administration, the container rail-services project is the most viable and critical for implementation,” Salalima said. “It would bring a two-pronged benefit by providing significant relief to commuters who daily traverse our congested roads, as well as result in a more efficient cargo-transport system.”
Industry observers believe the lack of connectivity to Manila ports is one of the main reasons truck operators are losing profits owing to the traffic congestion.
MRail Inc. has proposed the restoration of the rail connectivity between Manila ports to an inland container terminal facility in Laguna.
The private company, a subsidiary of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), recently signed an agreement with the International Container Terminal Services Inc. to operate a freight-train service in the existing tracks of the Philippine National Railways.
It plans to operate at least eight round trips per day with an average daily container transfer of 600 twenty-foot equivalent units from the Manila International Container Terminal to the Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal and vice versa. The company wants to operate the freight train round the clock.
Currently, there is a significant resurgence of the country’s manufacturing and trade activity. This is fueling a beehive operation in the ports and, as a result of increasing trade volumes, heavy port usage contributed to traffic in the metropolis.
The service, once revived, will act as the unconstrained avenue to move cargos to and fro which will eventually free up port storage within a shorter period to significantly increase port capacity without additional yard space and berth, resulting in increased revenue-generating capacity.
The proposal was submitted to the government in September last year, but was left untouched by the former officials of the transportation department.
Metro Manila loses roughly P2.4 billion in traffic daily, estimates from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) showed. This is expected to balloon to P6 billion by 2030.
To avert this, the Aquino administration adopted the Jica’s Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and its Surrounding Areas, otherwise known as the Dream Plan.
The P4.67-trillion road map calls for the establishment of a modern, well-integrated, coordinated and affordable transport system for Metro Manila and the adjacent areas of Bulacan, Pampanga, Cavite and Batangas.
The system will consist of expressways, new roads elevated and on ground, railways elevated and on ground, subways, airports and seaports. Near-term components are for completion by 2016, while medium- and longer-term components are for completion by 2020 and 2030, respectively.
When completed, the plan will accomplish at least three objectives: The reduction of traffic congestion in the metropolitan area; the diminution of air pollution in the metropolitan area and its environs; and the reduction of transportation costs to the urban population, especially the poor and other low-income groups.
At the level of the individual, completion will result in the reduction of the average travel fare of commuters from the current P42 to P24, and also the lowering of the current average travel time of 80 minutes to 31 minutes.