ILOILO City – An investor from Istanbul, Turkey expressed interest to conduct a feasibility study for the proposed revival of the Panay railway system.
Panay Railways, Inc. (PRI) chief operations officer Cesar Capellan said representatives of Kalyon Insaat Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S. (Kalyon) met with Department of Transportation (DOTr) officials in Metro Manila last week for a project briefing.
“Kalyon will undertake the feasibility study in cooperation with PRI, carry out the detailed design, and arrange the financing required with terms acceptable to us,” said Capellan in an interview with Panay News.
A memorandum of undertaking (MOU) must be signed first between the investor and PRI before the feasibility study is undertaken.
Capellan is hopeful that the feasibility study will be conducted as soon as possible to have it reviewed by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Region 6.
Once approved, Kalyon’s proposal would be opened to a Swiss challenge.
A Swiss challenge is a form of public procurement that requires a public authority that has received an unsolicited bid for a public project or for services to be provided to the government to publish the bid and invite third parties to match or better it.
Capellan also said Kalyon is interested in real estate development for settlers that would be affected by the railway’s revival.
Eleven investors – from Turkey, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Japan, England, and China – have expressed interest in the revival of Panay Island’s railway system
Capellan earlier said the project would need an estimated US$1.5 billion just for Phase 1 which covers the 117 kilometers of railway tracks from Iloilo City to Roxas City.
“Phase 1 includes civil works, locomotives, human resources, and relocations, among others,” said Capellan.
Panay railway’s original route was 117 kilometers long and included 19 permanent and 10 flag stations. It connected the then-towns of La Paz and Jaro (now districts of Iloilo City); Pavia, Santa Barbara, New Lucena, Pototan, Dingle, Dueñas, and Passi City in Iloilo; and Dumarao, Dao, Panitan, Cuartero, and Loctugan in Capiz. It reached Roxas City.
Capellan said the revived railway system will have an expanded area of coverage.
Phase 2 will see the construction of new railway routes from Roxas City to Kalibo, Aklan, going to Caticlan in Malay, Aklan.
Phase 3 will cover the new railway route from Caticlan, Malay in Aklan to San Jose, Antique; and Phase 4 will cover the new route from San Jose, Antique to Iloilo City via Iloilo province’s San Joaquin and Miag-ao towns.
In July last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) that he wanted to revive the railway systems in the country.
The Panay railways started operating in 1907.
In Iloilo City, its trains ended at the passenger terminal along the wharf next to the Customs House and near where the current Iloilo City Hall stands.
Trains ran across what is now the Drilon Bridge from La Paz and down the banks of the Iloilo River to Muelle Loney at the Port of Iloilo.
However, operations ceased in 1983 due to mounting losses./PN
