To provide a faster, cheaper and reliable mass transport all over the country
ANGARA PUSHES FOR A NATIONAL RAILWAY SYSTEM

Concerned at urban commuters who have to endure everyday unbearable traffic and immense pollution, Senator Edgardo J. Angara today proposed to establish a national railway system to solve the congestion and pollution in the metropolitan areas and the traffic problem in the major urban areas all over the country.

"The Philippine National Railway Act seeks to create a Railway Authority that will unify and standardize the development and operations of railways in the Philippines. Through this policy, a cheaper, faster, safer and reliable mass transport system will be provided for our commuters. It will not only decongest the metropolis, it will also depollute the cities," informed Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance.

In Metro Manila, a major commercial and educational institutions center, commuters particularly those employees whose offices are located along the EDSA stretch, MRT serves as the most convenient, fastest and even the cheapest means to get to one's destination. For one, the MRT operates at a speed of 65 kilometers per hour running through EDSA's 16.8 km rail. Second, fare rates range from P11.00 to P15.00 only which is relatively cheaper compared to a bus-ride from one point to another, along EDSA. And if traffic is concerned, the train can transport the commuters from one point to another in an estimated span of 20 to 40 minutes.

In fact, according to reports, up to Php 15 billion is lost yearly because of lost manhours, repairs, maintenance and lost fuel. Not to mention the stressful environment that commuters have to bear when traveling.

He explained, "The enactment of a National Railway Act has been overdue long before the food and fuel crisis that many countries of the whole world now suffer. The Act will ensure an efficient and effective mass transport system nationwide that will facilitate the movement or people, goods and services around the country."

Furthermore, the senator shared that in order for the entire Filipino people to reap the foregoing benefits that they have been denied of, and in order to promote the railway industry in the Philippines, which will accelerate national progress and prosperity and ensure our country's global competitiveness, there is a need, more than ever, to vigorously pursue, the establishment of a nationwide railway system that should be constructed simultaneously in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.