Artist’s rendering of the Malolos-Clark Railway Project. (Image from JICA, posted on the ADB website)

(UPDATED)

Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday extended a $1.3-billion loan to help finance the Malolos-Clark Railway Project, which will be country’s first airport express railway service.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and ADB Vice President Ahmed Saeed signed the loan deal in the presence of President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañan Palace.

The amount represents the first tranche of a total $2.75-billion loan, the largest investment by the ADB on infrastructure in any country, the Department of Finance said.

The Malolos-Clark Railway will span 53.1 kilometers, and will be a section of the 163-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway System, a rail network that will connect New Clark City, Clark and Clark International Airport in Pampanga to Manila and Calamba, Laguna by 2025.

The Japanese government is also co-financing the project through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

In his remarks, Duterte told the Department of Transportation to fast-track the completion of the Malolos-Clark railway, a major project under the “Build, Build, Build” program. (PressONE.ph)