Gov't to create Philippine Railway Institute

The government is now in the initial stages of creating a Philippine Railway Institute which will serve as a training center for employees of public railways, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Monday.

"I'm talking with JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) right now to put up a Philippine Railway Institute," Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said before the Philippine Transport Forum in Pasig City.

According to Tugade, the government is looking at the Philippine Railway Institute as a training center for employees of public railways in the country.

"We are now trying to formulate the curriculum as we are trying to formulate the structures that will be in that institute," he said.

"World-class training on how to run a railroad, how to operate... how to drive, how to be customer service-oriented," he added.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte last year said railway systems in Luzon and in Mindanao will be among his "first big projects."

In a briefing in May, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the Philippines and Japan have agreed to do at least three mega railway projects, including the Metro Manila subway system. —ALG, GMA News