PNR Mulls Relocation of Families Along Rail Tracks

NAGA CITY - MORE THAN 80 barangay captains and dwellers along the railroad localities met with Philippine National Railway (PNR) General Manager Manuel "Ower" Andal during a consultation at the Cam. Sur National High School complex, on the rehabilitation program of the PNR and the relocation of more than 2,000 families of informal settlers along the rail tracks in the adjoining Camarines Sur and Albay provinces.

Andal said the relocation of the families is vital in the current rehabilitation of the railways from Manila to Bikol; the current program is also assisted by the National Housing Authority (NHA) which is expected to provide housing units for the relocated families.

In the meantime, with the daily trips of commuter train now transporting passengers from Naga to Ligao City and Naga to Sipocot town, "passenger-skates" servicing residents along isolated localities near the rail-tracks had been asked to cease their operation by the PNR.

Some local residents, however, have appealed to the PNR chief not to remove the "skates-service" since the commuter trains only stop on designated stations and not on isolated farms and communities far from the towns.

Andal also told newsmen at the consultation that commuter train operation in Metro Manila, the Tutuban to Sucat route, now has 18 trips daily.

It is projected that by April this year the PNR commuter trains will ultimately reach Alabang in transporting passengers in Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, the trips plying the Bikol to Manila route will commence by June this year, with new train units expected to arrive from Japan on the second quarter of this year, Andal said. (SONNY SALES)