Philippines signs $1.3 billion ADB-backed loan for rail project
Philippines Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President Ahmed Saeed today signed a $1.3 billion loan, the first tranche of a total $2.75 billion facility, for the Malolos–Clark railway project in a ceremony witnessed by Philippine PresidentnRodrigo Duterte at the Malacañan Palace.
The Malolos–Clark railway is part of the Philippine government’s North–South Commuter Railway project, which aims to link New Clark City to Calamba by 2025. The project will use cutting-edge technology to build an elevated railway line, with a maximum train speed of 160 kilometers per hour, to help ease chronic road congestion in and around Metro Manila, reduce air pollution, cut the costs of transport and logistics, and encourage economic growth and a population shift outside the capital.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is cofinancing the project with an additional financing of up to $2 billion for the rolling stock and the railway systems
