Mindanao Railway

A pier with railroad in Zamboanga City 1906

President Elpidio Quirino's welcoming train in the Davao Penal Colony, taken prior to 1953.

The first attempt to construct a rail line in Mindanao was made in the 1890s, when the Spanish colonial government attempted to build a Decauville railway between Iligan and Marawi. However, this was never finished.[3]

Not long later, a series of narrow-gauge railroads were opened by the American government in Mindanao. These short lines were constructed to transport supplies and United States Army personnel. A line was opened in Camp Keithley in what is now Marawi where trains carry war materiel on flatcars.[4] A 2 ft (610 mm) gauge short line was also opened in Jolo, Sulu.

The best-documented system built by the government was the single-track line of the Davao Penal Colony in Davao del Norte. The prison was established in 1932 by the American government. It was converted into a facility for American POWs after its occupation by Imperial Japanese Army forces in 1942. Davao Penal Colony survivor Raymond C. Heimbuch wrote in his book that the line suffered from poor condition of the rolling stock and lack of maintenance of the tracks. There was a sole diesel locomotive and 40 flatcars, having replaced a steam locomotive which its tender survived after the war. The locomotive would pair with 5 or 6 flatcars that carry prisoners, sacks of rice, or forestry products. The train would take a 45-minute trip per way.[5] According to an interview with POW survivor Hayes Bolitho in 2009, the line is estimated to be 7 km (4.3 mi) long. He also commented that prisoners were forced to push the train in case of rain or when ascending steep grades due to the poor conditions of the tracks.[6] A few years after the war, a two-car train welcomed the party of then-president Elpidio Quirino during his visit to the area.[4]

At the same time, local plantations and lumber mills also built their own systems during the 1920s and the 1930s, typically serving freight trains from the production facilities to a port. At Port Lamon, Surigao del Norte, trains carry timber from the jungle and sawmill to the pier. One Class B Shay locomotive was used by the Kolambugan Lumber and Development Company of Lanao del Norte during the 1920s and the 1930s. In Malabang, Lanao del Sur, a local company also ran freight trains through the town during the 1930s.[7] In Misamis Oriental, the Anakan Lumber Company also operated Heisler locomotives in the town of Gingoog during the 1920s and 1930s.

These short lines were either destroyed by World War II or dismantled in the case of the Davao Penal Colony line. Sometime after President Quirino's visit, the line was dismantled due to its condition. The metal used was then sold to the Chinese black market due to the high market value of iron there.[4] Despite closures of local freight railroads due to the rise of truck traffic, one line was established in the Davao Region by the Tagum Agricultural Development Company (TADECO). It started operations in 1950, and had 2 diesel locomotives that hauled abaca and Cavendish banana produce. The locomotives were decommissioned and stored in 2010.

Early proposals for rail lines in Mindanao in 1906.

Proposals for the Mindanao Railway have been published by the Daily Bulletin and The Far Eastern Review as early as August 1906. These proposed corridors include those surrounding Cotabato, Davao City, Lake Lanao and Sulu. There were no proposed interconnections between these four lines due to the technology and rather low population density of the region during that time.[8]

Then-president Manuel L. Quezon proposed the construction of an electrified railroad between Cagayan de Oro (then known as Misamis) and Davao City passing through the province of Bukidnon. It would have been electrified by overhead lines powered by the Maria Cristina Falls' hydroelectric power plant (now the Agus VI Hydroeletric Plant). This proposal was made in January 1936, and was taken note by Quezon's adviser Francis Burton Harrison. Some track bed construction began the same year but the project was left incomplete without a single track placed when construction was halted in 1940.[9]

After the war, Manila Railroad General Manager and later Senator Prospero Sanidad proposed a standard-gauge railway in 1952 with consideration for a future electrified network. A network 1,170 kilometers (730 miles) long was proposed for construction with the assistance of American firm De Leuw, Cather and Company.[10]

The following lines were proposed, each at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) long:[10]

1. Davao City to Kibawe, Bukidnon — The length of this segment is 100 km (62 mi).
2. Cagayan de Oro to Kibawe — The length of this segment is 140 km (87 mi). The route will also pass by Malaybalay.
3. Cotabato City to Kibawe — The length of this segment is 120 km (75 mi). A branch line would have passed by Parang, Maguindanao.
4. Nasipit, Agusan del Norte to Santa Josefa, Agusan del Sur — The length of this segment is 120 km (75 mi). A branch line would have passed by Butuan.
5. Butuan to Surigao City — The length of this segment is 100 km (62 mi).
6. Davao City to Santa Josefa — The length of this segment is 110 km (68 mi).
7. Iligan to Kibawe — The length of this segment is 110 km (68 mi). A station would have also been built in the area of Dansalan.
8. Makar to Midsayap, Cotabato — The length of this segment is 150 km (93 mi). The area referred in this study as Makar is now divided between General Santos and T'Boli, South Cotabato.
9. Davao City to Makar — The length of this segment is 110 km (68 mi).
10. Bislig to Santa Josefa — A branch of Segment 4, the length of this segment is 50 km (31 mi).

According to this older plan, Kibawe (then known as Kibawa) and Davao City are the main hubs for the network. Although never realized, it left an influence to the right-of-way of the present Mindanao Railway proposal, particularly on the circumferential main line.

When the Philippine National Railway (PNR) was created by virtue of Republic Act 4156[11] in 1964, establishment of a railway in Mindanao was made part of its mandate. Section 5 of the law explicitly stated that P50M had been allocated for the survey and establishment of a railway on the island. When RA 4156 was superseded by Republic Act 6366 in 1971, the same explicit mandate to create a Mindanao Railway, under the PNR, remained.

However, when the law enabling the PNR was amended by Presidential Decree 741 in July 1975, reference to a railway in Mindanao was omitted.

On December 15, 1992, Fidel Ramos signed Memorandum Circular No.23[12] which directed the formulation of the Medium-Term Philippine Dev't Plan 1993–1998. Secion 4.4.2 of this plan focused on Transportation. Sub-paragraph "M" called for a feasibility study for the Mindanao Railway under a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) arrangement.

President Joseph Estrada created the Presidential Committee on Flagship Programs and Projects to identify projects for the administration. On October 7, 1998, the committee directed the Philippine National Railways, Public Estates Authority, and the Southern Philippine Development Authority to conduct preparatory studies for the Mindanao Railway System.[13]

On June 28, 1999, Estrada signed Administrative Order 74, series of 1999 which allocated P10M to the Mindanao Rail System Task Force to, as stated in the order to:

. . . act as the clearing house for policy and operational issues affecting the implementation of the MRS Project

However, on February 11, 2002—after Estrada's impeachment the year before—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Executive Order 72, series 2002 which abolished the MRS Task Force. Later, however, Arroyo replaced the task force with another organization.

On May 25, 2006, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Executive Order 536 which created the Cebu Railway Project Office (CRPO) and the Mindanao Railway Project Office (MRPO) under the control of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC). Both were charged formulating plans for, identifying funding mechanisms for, and developing, railways in Metro Cebu and Mindanao respectively.[14]

The government made numerous studies and technical assessments during the 1990s.[15] In the early 2000s, the Mindanao Strategic Railway Development Plan was formulated. The planned railway, with a total length of 1,533 km (953 mi), was designed to span the entire island in a loop and was estimated to cost ₱66.5 billion. The plan for a railway divided into four phases:[16] Laguindingan to Cagayan de Oro, Laguindingan to Iligan, Cagayan de Oro to Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental and Iligan to Linamon, Lanao del Norte. The network would have linked urban centers across the island and was aimed to cut the 90-minute travel time by bus between Cagayan de Oro and Iligan to 15–20 minutes. The project was slated to start construction in 2011,[16] and Saudi Arabia expressed interest in funding the project.[17] The project was later discontinued.

As part of the updated 2011–2016 Philippine Development Plan, ₱400 million (US$8.85 million) was allotted for conducting feasibility studies to develop infrastructure projects such as railways and roads.[18] In 2014, there were debates whether the system shall be privately managed or run by the Philippine National Railways which at this point, intermittently operated inter-city rail services in Luzon.[19][20]

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the National Economic and Development Authority conducted studies for the construction of a rail system in the island of Mindanao along with its partners starting in 2015. The proposal in 2015 resembled the 1952 right-of-way. The government planned to build the railway in six phases,[21] with the first running from Iligan to Gingoog. A pre-proposal conference was conducted in 2015,[22] but the railway was not included in the Public-Private Partnership program.

The railway in its present form began development in the late 2010s. While JICA was conducting initial studies, then-presidential candidate and later president Rodrigo Duterte supported the construction of the railway. Upon his election, he aimed to begin construction of the first phase between the cities of Tagum and Digos by 2017 and open it partially before his term ends by 2022.[23] In 2018, the project, initially called the Trans-Mindanao High Speed Railway, was approved and received initial funding from Congress.[1] However, construction was delayed after several eminent domain issues, specifically after residents of a high-end gated community near Davao City has requested the Department of Transportation to realign the railway line to avoid hitting an 18-hole golf course.[24][1][25]

The railway's route was modified into a system that centers on a circular mainline.[26][27] However, it was later reverted into the old right of way, but now incorporating the extensions and branch lines featured in the 2019 proposal. In its current state, the project has 18 segments to be divided into 10 phases.[28]

On March 24, 2021, DOTr Undersecretary for Project Implementation in Mindanao Eymard Eje, Tagum mayor Allan Rellon and Carmen mayor Virginia Perandos signed a deed of absolute sale for land to be used to be used for the construction of the Tagumpay Train Village, a resettlement area for families affected by the project.[29] As of April 2021, land acquisition from Panabo to Carmen is almost complete.[30] On April 19, 2021, the city government of Panabo issued an ordinance prohibiting any unrelated construction on the right-of-way of the Mindanao Railway.[31]

The Project Management Consultant Contract for the Tagum-Davao-Digos Segment of the project was signed on October 20, 2021. It was also announced that the final length of the system is 1,544 km (959 mi) long.[32]

Construction is yet to begin on the first phase of the Mindanao Railway. In a 2020 interview with Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan, the system was originally set to begin construction in the third quarter of 2021, with partial operations by 2022. The rest of the system will be opened between 2032 and 2037.[2]

The start of construction was delayed in May 2022 as the DOTr did not receive the shortlist of the design-and-build contractors from the Chinese government.[33]

However, in July 2022, the project funding was withdrawn after the Chinese government failed to act on the funding requests by the Duterte administration including the Subic–Clark railway and PNR South Long Haul projects.[34] A month later, on August 11, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian and Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista held formal talks ending in an agreement to restart negotiations for the three railway projects.[35]

On September 30, 2022, the DOTr said that the project could be finished by 2028 if the loan for the project is finalized by 2023.[36]

Also known as the Tagum–Davao–Digos (TDD) segment, this involves the construction of a 100 km (62 mi) segment between the cities of Tagum and Digos,[lower-alpha 1] passing through Davao City. It will have eight stations alongside two depots to be located in Tagum and Davao City, with the former being the segment's main yard.[40][41] This is the only segment confirmed to have planned double-tracking and electrification upgrades in the future.

• Phase 2 — The second phase will involve a 150 km (93 mi) segment south of Phase 1 between the cities of Digos and Koronadal, passing through General Santos.[42]

• Phase 3 — The Third phase is envisioned to have an estimated length of 54.8 kilometers connecting the metropolitan area of Cagayan De Oro from Laguindingan to Villanueva. It was identified in the 2021 Master Plan for the Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Development in Metropolitan Cagayan de Oro and will be an important transportation mode as Cagayan de Oro develops as the fourth metro area according to the National Spatial Strategy.[43]

• Phase 5 — The fifth phase will involve a 214 km (133 mi) segment north of Phase 1 between the cities of Tagum and Butuan.

• Phase 5 — Phases 4 and 5 are the last two projects in sealing the new circumferential mainline of the Mindanao Railway, which replaced the Cagayan de Oro–Pagadian–Digos segment.
  • Koronadal–Cagayan de Oro segment and Davao City–Bukidnon branch — The length of this combined main line segment and branch system is yet to be determined. The Davao City–Bukidnon branch will meet with the other end of the main line of the Koronadal–Cagayan de Oro segment at Talakag, Bukidnon according to the Department of Transportation. This right-of-way is different to the earlier proposals that would have passed by the area of Valencia and Malaybalay.
  • Butuan–Cagayan de Oro segment — This will be a 170 km (110 mi) between Butuan and Cagayan de Oro. A branch line will be constructed from Butuan and will head north to Surigao City.
• Phases 6 to 10 — Phases 6 to 10 involves the construction of four radial lines with one having an extension into the mainline network. Pagadian will be the main hub of four of these segments and lines. The following branch lines are involved:
  • Cagayan de Oro–Pagadian segment — This will be a 216 km (134 mi) segment between Cagayan de Oro and Pagadian via Iligan.
  • Pagadian–Digos segment — This will be a 242 km (150 mi) segment between Pagadian and Digos, the latter being the southern terminus of Phase 1. It will also pass through Cotabato City and traverse the circumferential mainline via Kabacan.
  • Pagadian–Dipolog branch — This will be a 122 km (76 mi) line between Pagadian and Dipolog.
  • Pagadian–Zamboanga segment — This will be a 222 km (138 mi) line between Pagadian and Zamboanga City.
  • Butuan–Surigao branch — This will be a 97 km (60 mi) line between Butuan and Surigao City.

The total length of the Koronadal–Cagayan de Oro and Davao City–Bukidnon segment, as well as future extensions on the line beyond Phase 10 such as the double-tracking of the Tagum–Digos segment, amounts to 645 kilometers (401 miles).[28]

The line shall be initially constructed as a single-track line that will be by operated with diesel rolling stock, although upgrades to a standard electrified double-track mainline will be constructed in the future.[40] The specific type of electrification system that will be adopted on the Mindanao Railway is yet to be determined.[48] On the other hand, expansion of the single-track line to double-track has already been considered for at least the Tagum–Davao–Digos section, which is included in the total of 2,278 km (1,415 mi) track length of the entire system.[28][48] For the current station arrangement however, passing sidings shall be used to allow trains to stop without obstructing traffic from the opposite direction especially with the target headway being 13 minutes.[46]

If the electrification and double-tracking plans were adopted, the current 120 km/h (75 mph) maximum speed for the diesel line will be raised to 160 km/h (99 mph) for the electrified line, which is comparable to PNR's Luzon System's maximum speed and would count as higher-speed rail.[48] The 2016 JICA study suggests the use of overhead catenaries on or before 2045.[49]

In 2018, the project was initially given the marketing title of the Trans-Mindanao High-Speed Railway.[28] This was later simplified to Mindanao Railway after a maximum speed of 120 km/h (75 mph) has been determined which is less than half of true high-speed rail.[40] The name change also happened with the North–South Commuter Railway in Luzon[50] and the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway in Israel,[51] both of which were marketed as "high-speed" to distinguish themselves from the much slower existing train services there.

Despite the change in the project title, there are plans for a genuine high-speed rail network in the region, and the proposed infrastructure of the Mindanao Railway was planned with future high-speed rail development in mind along as with all the proposed railways for PNR.[52] The two shortlisted Chinese proponents also stated interest in designing a high-speed line that will be capable of running speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour (160 mph) once the present project achieves successful operations.[25]