North-South Commuter Railway not extending to Baguio City

As the mega railway project progresses, false hopes bait commuters online with one post wrongly implying that the project will extend to Baguio City

Claim: The North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) will extend its routes to Baguio City.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact checked this: The NSCR aims to connect Clark, Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna, cutting travel time for commuters. The Facebook page “Metro Manila Subway,” which has 48,000 followers, has consistently shared content about the project’s progress. 

In a post last September 20, the page claimed that the NSCR being extended to Baguio is “very viable” and added: “Hopefully it will be extended to the Summer Capital of this Philippines all the way to Cagayan, Isabela.”

The post, which has the text “NSCR Extension to Baguio City!”, also includes a map showing the route between Manila and Baguio, accompanied by the text “NSCR Manila to Baguio.” As of writing, the post has 6,027 reactions, 709 comments, and 1,717 shares.

The facts: There are no official announcements from the Department of Transportation, Philippine National Railways, or the NSCR website regarding the railway project’s extension further north or plans to add any additional stations.  Rappler has contacted the mentioned department but has yet to receive any response asof writing. 

The NSCR currently has 37 stations across Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila, and Laguna as follows: 

Deceptive: Despite using the word “hopefully” and stating that the extension is a mere aspiration, the post’s content had a tone of certainty that misled a couple of social media users. This was also implied by the map and the text “NSCR Extension to Baguio City!”

The page’s followers also flooded the post with negative reactions, pointing out the location and elevation of Baguio City, while some still fell for the claim.

Questionable credibility: The page that posted the claim has high social media engagement but has questionable credibility as it does not directly cite its sources in most of its posts. The page is not affiliated with any government agency and has been observed to cite random Facebook users as sources. 

The post was edited 20 minutes after its initial publication to include additional information from a commenter, Ryan Pajaro, about the possible execution of the extension in three phases. Pajaro, a basketball commentator, has no reported experience or background on the issue. 

Big-ticket project: The 147-kilometer project will provide citizens with faster and more efficient transportation, cutting travel time from Tutuban to Malolos from one hour to 30 minutes, while passengers from Makati will be able to reach Clark in just an hour.

An estimated ₱873.62 billion budget will initially be covered by the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency through loan agreements.

If operations proceed as planned, partial service will begin as early as December 2027 or by the first quarter of 2028 at the latest. Full operations are expected to start by 2029.

As of October 5, the DOTr successfully installed the viaduct connecting NSCR’s Bocaue and Balagtas stations. During the Viaduct Span Connection ceremony, Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said that the installation of the viaduct makes the DOTr move “closer to the goal of a reliable and efficient rail line.” – Aya Ranas/Rappler.com

Aya Ranas is a 2nd year Communication student and a scholar at National University Clark, Pampanga. An editor-in-chief and founder of the Nationalian Clarion, she is also an Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2024.

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