Marcos orders DOTr to secure broadband deal for North-South Commuter Railway

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has directed the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to secure the broadband co-sharing partnership with Smart Communications, Inc. for the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Marcos raised the need to talk with Smart’s chairman and chief executive officer Manny Pangilinan “to resolve the problem of broadband frequency for the NSCR signaling system.”

“It’s been left hanging for quite a while and knowing Smart and Manny, nakakausap naman natin [sila] (we can talk to them). We'll just find a way to it,” the President told DOTr officials during a meeting in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

“Nakikiusap tayo sa Smart na kahit na kaunting broadband ipamigay nila, ibalik nila sa atin para magamit ng commuter railway,” Marcos added.

(We are appealing to SMART to provide us a little broadband so we can use it on the commuter railway.)

Newly appointed Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon, on the other hand, said they had talked with Pangilinan and Smart, emphasizing that “securing the signaling system is at the top of [the] agenda.”

“This was the top item on the agenda and based on my initial talks with Smart, I think we can come to a quick resolution to this,” Dizon said.

The NSCR is a 147-kilometer mass transit system that stretches from Calamba, Laguna to Clark, Pampanga, and is expected to slash the travel time between the two cities to two hours from the current four hours.

Its system boasts 51 train sets that are similar to ones operating in Japan.

Once completed in 2026, around 800,000 passengers daily are expected to benefit from the railway project. —Giselle Ombay/KG, GMA Integrated News