2010 - 2011: PHILIPPINE NATIONAL RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

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The Infrastructure Series Continues.
This one concludes our 2010 trip
and moves into 2011.

PNR Infrastructure: A 2010-11 Time Capsule Brought to You by Sweat, Rain, and Food Poisening, and Questionable Life Choices

Ah, the Philippine National Railways — where the clackety-clack of the tracks meets the soothing chaos of Metro Manila traffic. This mediocre excuse for a gallery is a collection of railway infrastructure shots taken way back in 2010, before everything started morphing into sleek glass, steel, and whatever else the modern world insists on using these days. Back when things had character. Or at least rust. Lots and lots of rust.

Yes, dear readers, these images weren’t just plucked from the comfort of an air-conditioned SUV with a selfie stick. Oh no. They were earned. Braved traffic that seemed to operate on its own laws of physics, danced between jeepneys like a contestant on a low-budget game show, and endured both the baking tropical sun and torrential downpours — sometimes within the same hour. All for the noble purpose of capturing signals, bridges, stations, and whatever track-related thing happened to be nearby before they got unceremoniously replaced with “progress.”

You’ll find a beautifully random mix of guff here, much of now totally gone — because let’s be honest, there was no master plan. From old (and sadly rebuilt) stations that have seen more ghosts than trains lately, to trackwork that may or may not pass any modern safety standards, it's a visual tour through a PNR that was charming, gritty, and wonderfully inconsistent back at the time.

So, if you're the kind of person who prefers nostalgia with a side of oxidized metal, you’re in the right place. Feast your eyes. Or at least squint politely.

You’re welcome. 

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Believed to have been the last semaphore signal pole to exist in Manila. Recent work related to the new elevated railway seems to have wiped out this great bit of history.

Hopefully PNR saved it as they have a signal arm on display at their head office.

Photo: Brad Peadon

The lovely little station of Pamplona in the Bicol Region.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Above and below

Passing over the Bicol River on the approach to Naga station.

Photo: Brad Peadon

A derelict Pili station which looked on the verge of collapse back at the time.

Below: how it looked in 2019. 

The rebuild has since been completed.

Photo Above: Brad Peadon

Photo Below: Google Streetscape

Approaching Pili station (photo above) during a ride on the Bicol Commuter Train.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Above and eight below.

Pasay Road station was the main one in the later years of the Metro Manila heavy rail operations.

Aldriene Mabale recently gave me the sad news that it  has been wiped out

Photos: Brad Peadon

Pasay Road station was a long-standing commuter stop on the main line of the Philippine National Railways in Makati, serving passengers travelling between central Manila and the southern suburbs and provinces. Located near Antonio Arnaiz Avenue (formerly Pasay Road), it was a busy station for workers commuting into the Makati business district during the later decades of PNR’s Metro Manila commuter operations.

 The station remained in use into the 2020s after which time Metro Manila rail services were suspended for the construction of the new North–South Commuter Railway. 

The old Pasay Road platforms and structures could still be seen beside the tracks for some time, alas it is now just a memory.

As are the overzealous security guards that felt they had power outside their purview. 

Above and four below.

Another station, and most associated infrastructure, that has been wiped from the face of the earth is at Espana. Station gone, crossing huts gone, track gone. Only the signage around the crossing still survives.

The whole section is now under another horrid elevated road.

Photos: Brad Peadon

Espana Station after line closure, but before the removal of the station.

Photo: Google Streetscape

Tutuban Station, not surprisingly, still exists as it is the PNR head office in Manila. 

It is however somewhat more quiet now that passenger services have ceased.

Photos: Brad Peadon

Above and two below.

Another station that has since been obliterated is this one at Blumentritt. Photos taken from the LRT1 station of the same name.

Photos: Brad Peadon

Blumentritt looking in the same direction of the upper photo, after closure.

In this 2024 shot the station awnings can still just be seen. But today it is believed they have all gone with the removal of the station.

Photo: Google Streetscape

Above and three below.

The historic Kilbay Railway Bridge is a well-known railway bridge on the southern main line of the Philippine National Railways in the Bicol Region of Luzon. Located near the town of Del Gallego, the bridge carries the railway across the Kilbay River and has long been a familiar landmark for passengers travelling on the historic Bicol Express route between Manila and the Bicol provinces.

 The structure is notable for its rural setting and for the sweeping views of the surrounding river valley, making it a popular spot for railway enthusiasts and photographers following the line south of Naga toward Legazpi.

Photos: Brad Peadon

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Elspeth Artocillo.

Mark Chua, Roberto Cordoba, Aldriene Mabale, Eric Toff

MrX, Nhing, and Onyo.

PNR Management & Staff.

wikipedia.org

Philippine National Railways

Spotlight On Malansad Station

Philippine Railway Historical Society 

Free Philippine Railway Publications

Philippine Railway Historical Society Website

Negros/Panay Sugar Tramways & History - Past & Present

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OPERATION ADOBO #7

March 2017

Philippine Trip report.

A hastily cobbled together trip report on Manila.

NOTE: While the report does contain all the transport related guff that is expected, it is not solely a transport related publication.

VIEW TRIP REPORT

BICOL EXPRESS TO RETURN....AGAIN!

  The Bicol Express has been an on again, off again, service for as long as I have been going to the Philippines.
  However, after a break of some years following an accident, the following article suggests that it is to again make a comeback.
  Heres hoping it lasts longer this time round.



Train ride to Bicol ‘bumpy’
By: Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Juan Escandor Jr., Maricar Cinco - 
@inquirerdotnetPhilippine Daily Inquirer / 12:24 AM November 19, 2016

NAGA CITY—It was not a smooth ride for the inspection run of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) train that would ply the Manila-Naga City route by Dec. 15.

The inspection train, made up of three coaches, left the Tutuban station in Manila at 5:15 a.m. on Friday, carrying PNR officials led by Joseline Geronimo, PNR officer in charge. The team had set out to reach Naga City in Camarines Sur province by nightfall Friday.

But it was a slow ride as informal settlers, wet market vendors, trees and sections of houses along the PNR track blocked the route in Laguna province.

Geronimo said the inspection was smooth until the train reached the Mamatid station in Cabuyao City, also in Laguna.

“After Mamatid, there were some interactions, encroachments by informal settlers [near the rail tracks],” Geronimo said.

The train had to stop at some point as PNR personnel remove debris, tree branches and trunks blocking the track or clear canopies of some houses.

In Calamba City, “talipapa” (village wet market) vendors were asked to move out for the train to pass through.

“We’ve fixed this issue (informal settlers) before but they just keep coming back. It’s one of the things we need to ask help from our local governments,” Geronimo said.

“Like in Candelaria (town in Quezon province), nakiraan pa kami (We had to ask permission to pass through). In Los Baños (town in Laguna), the coaches [hit the ground] in some elevated portions,” she said.

The train reached Lucena City at 11:30 a.m., stopping at the abandoned station. The PNR’s safety steel bar at the railroad crossing near the station and warning lights were broken.

As of 5 p.m. on Friday, the train was in Tagkawayan town in Quezon. It was expected to reach Ragay town in Camarines Sur at 6:30 p.m.

A portion of the railway bridge in Ragay that connects the villages of Apali and Apad is undergoing repairs, after it collapsed when a flash flood washed out one of its support foundations in March this year.

Geronimo said the inspection team would alight from the coaches in Ragay and transfer to another train to bring them to Naga City.

Ricarte Galopa, PNR security chief, said team members did not note any major safety issue along the route in Laguna and Quezon provinces.

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“After the test run, an assessment meeting will immediately follow to discuss some critical areas along the Manila-Bicol route, particularly the conditions of the bridges,” Geronimo said.

Geronimo said she would invite officials from local governments along the route to help the PNR solve local problems, particularly the clearing of houses along the tracks.