Japan keen on funding Bicol train study

JAPAN is very interested in doing a feasibility study on a high-speed rail project from Metro Manila to Bicol, according to Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. LRay Villafuerte.

Villafuerte said that during a recent meeting with Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya and Sakamoto Takema, at that time the chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency to the country, it was said that Tokyo was "very interested" in doing the feasibility study.

If the Bicol Express gets funding from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) from Japan, Villafuerte suggested that, considering the Japanese's expertise in bullet trains, a similar system could be built instead of a standard rail network to cut travel time between Metro Manila and Bicol to about four hours from half a day.

The Bicol Express is the popular name for the Philippine National Railways-South Long Haul.

Japan has Shinkansen bullet trains which, according to a statement from Villafuerte's office, have a top speed of 320 kilometers per hour.

The lawmaker said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave orders to revive the Bicol Express and upgrade the Naga Airport to Undersecretary Timothy John Batan of the Department of Transportation during the Regional Development Council Region 5 meeting in Pili last March 7.