On Friday, Economic Minister Nihei Daisuke joined President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista at the contract signing ceremony between the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Mitsubishi Corporation for electrical and mechanical (E&M) systems and track works of the Japan-funded North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Extension Project.

Nihei said in his speech, “we renew our firm support for the successful completion of the NSCR, as well as the entire Build, Better, More program. I assure you that Japan will continue to be the Philippines’ committed and reliable partner in realizing a prosperous economy through infrastructure development.”

“Let us all move full speed ahead towards the early completion of the NSCR. With the technical expertise of our contractors and Japan’s advanced rail technology, I am confident of the success of this cooperative infrastructure undertaking that will benefit millions of Filipinos,” Nihei added.

The NSCR extension project, financed by the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is one of the key infrastructure projects under the Marcos administration’s “Build, Better, More” program.

Its 52km railway in the north from Malolos to Clark Airport in Pampanga, and 55km railway in the south from Tutuban to Calamba in Laguna, will cut travel time from Clark Airport to Calamba from 4 hours to 2 hours and will service 800,000 passengers per day. Japan Information and Culture Center