Yamsuan gives thumbs up to DOTr plan to open Laguna-Albay cargo rail line

Bicol Saro Partylist Representative Brian Raymund Yamsuan said the Department of Transportation (DOTR)’s plan to operate a cargo rail line between Laguna and Albay will play a “pivotal role” in reenergizing the economy of the Bicol Region, while helping lower food prices for consumers.

A long-time advocate for the revival of the Bicol Express rail line, Yamsuan said he hopes that the DOTr would push through with this proposed P5 billion Laguna-Albay freight service project as this would significantly bring down logistics costs for Bicol farmers supplying vegetables and other agricultural products to Metro Manila.

“Bicol farmers and traders will immensely benefit from this project. Rail transportation is cheaper and more efficient than trucking services in moving large volumes of cargo over long distances, which, in turn, will help reduce costs for those supplying goods from Bicol to Metro Manila and vice versa,” Yamsuan said.

Affordable and efficient rail transport would also spur increased business activities between the two points, and with Laguna and nearby provinces where different industrial parks are located. These developments would help reinvigorate Bicol’s economy and create more jobs in the region, Yamsuan added.

“Also, lower logistics costs would translate into higher incomes for farmers and traders, and lower food prices for consumers,” Yamsuan said.

Yamsuan has long been pushing for the revival of the Bicol Express railway connecting Metro Manila to Albay through the implementation of the South Long Haul Project. He said the DOTr plan to retrofit the existing Laguna-Albay line for cargo service would be “a good start in pursuing the “renaissance of the Bicol Express.”

In an earlier statement, DOTr Undersecretary Jeremy Regino said the Philippine National Railways (PNR) is transferring its train fleet to existing lines in the Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) corridor and the Bicol Region in order to operate cargo trains between Calamba, Laguna and Legazpi, Albay by next year.

The DOTr is planning to operate one freight trip per day in the evening to avoid disrupting commuter services in the Laguna-Albay line. It is also studying the possibility of building a dry port in Calamba where containers can be carried in and out of freight trains, according to Regino.

Regino said multilateral institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are being eyed to finance the reconstruction of the Bicol Express rail line.
Yamsuan said he would support this DOTr-PNR project when it is presented before lawmakers at the upcoming deliberations in the third quarter on the proposed 2025 national budget.

“Habang wala pang malinaw na mapapagkunan ng pondo para muling buhayin ang Bicol Express, mabuting mapakinabangan pa rin ang linya ng tren mula Laguna hanggang Albay para sa commercial use. Bukod sa mas mura ito sa paghahahatid ng mga produkto mula Bicol hanggang Laguna at Metro Manila at pabalik, mas mabilis pa ito dahil tiyak na hindi made-delay ang tren ng matinding trapik na karaniwang nangyayari kapag trak at dyip ang ginagamit,” Yamsuan said.

(While there is still no clear funding source for the revival of the Bicol Express, it would be better that the existing rail line between Laguna and Albay be put to commercial use. On top of it being cheaper to transport products from Bicol to Laguna and Metro Manila, it would also be faster because trains would never be delayed by heavy traffic that is often experienced when using trucks and jeepneys.)

Yamsuan reminded the PNR to ensure that the retrofitted trains to be used for the Laguna-Albay cargo service are equipped with the proper equipment to ensure that the transported goods would not be prone to spoilage.

Many of the products transported from Bicol’s provinces to Metro Manila are perishable goods, such as vegetables, fruits and other food crops, Yamsuan noted.

He recalled that in mid-2021, when continuous rains hampered the transport of vegetables and fruits from Northern Luzon, the Department of Agriculture (DA) tapped the provinces of Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte to supply hundreds of kilograms of pineapples, coconut, squash, cucumbers, and other farm products to Balintawak, Divisoria and other markets in Metro Manila.

According to the DOTr, a study conducted by blueFocus Infrastructure Advisors showed that traders pay at least $5,300 to deliver an imported container from one place to another in the Philippines.

The study also found that trucking services and warehouse fees account for as high as 25 percent of logistics costs. ###