Russia to explore dev’t assistance for Northern Luzon railway

The governments of Russia and the Philippines will explore Russian development assistance for a Northern Luzon railway initiative, a top official of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Tuesday.

"Russian assistance will commence with a grant for the preparation of a detailed feasibility study," Transportation Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Leah Quiambao told reporters in a text message.

This comes after Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov engaged in a bilateral meeting at the City of Dreams Hotel in Parañaque City.

"Russia is expected to bring with it its development experience, gained in the course of building its 86,000 km of mainline and 60,000 km of secondary railway lines," Quiambao said.

The Transportation official said no specific amount and timeline was discussed yet for the possible Russian assistance.

Tugade and Sokolov also discussed possible areas of cooperation in roads, maritime, and aviation.

"On satellite navigation technologies, the Philippines and Russia will explore utilization of GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) for road emergency response, truck weight monitoring, and air navigation applications," Quiambao said.

"On maritime transport education, the Philippines and Russia will pursue the deployment of training vessels to the Philippines, learners and trainers exchange programs between the PMMA (Philippine Merchant Marine Academy) and Russia's maritime academy, and possible donation by Russia of a training vessel to the Philippines," she added.

The Transportation official also took note that the Philippines and Russia discussed launching direct flights between Manila and Moscow under existing agreements. — BM, GMA News