LFBJV signatories Jan Torka, Malcolm Lorimer, Rey Villar and Ricky Sevilleja with Transportation Sec. Jaime Bautista during the official contract signingThe Leighton-First Balfour Joint Venture (LFBJV) was among the contractors that joined the ceremonial signing for two packages of the NorthSouth Commuter Railway (NSCR) project in April.

The JV signed the P24-billion contract package (CP) S03B, the only package with a tunnel component among the nine NSCR-South packages. The ceremonial signing took place in Malacañang Palace, where also signed was CP S-02 won by the JV between Acciona and DMCI.

After the ceremonial signing, a post-program was held at the Philippine Columbian Association in Paco, Manila where First Balfour deputy chief operating officer Jose Valentin Pantangco Jr. delivered a speech on behalf of the JV.

“First Balfour is glad to partner with Leighton Asia to deliver their first project with the Philippine government, the NSCR contract package 03B. By combining First Balfour’s over five decades of local engineering and construction experience with Leighton Asia’s global capabilities, we are set to successfully deliver a world-class infrastructure,” Pantangco said.

The ceremonial signing came after the JV was officially awarded the package in February 2023. CP S-03B involves civil works, tunnel construction and building works for a railway that spans around 6.1 kilometers alongside a portion of the South Luzon Expressway. It includes a 4.7- kilometer underground railway, a 1.4-kilometer ground level railway, the construction of the FTI Station and tunneling works to connect FTI to the Senate Station of the Metro Manila Subway Project or MMSP.

The NSCR is a 147-kilometer rail infrastructure project funded by the Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency. It will be conjoined with the Philippine National Railway and will have 37 stations in total. Once completed in 2029, the full NSCR line will reduce the travel time between Pampanga’s Clark Airport and Calamba, Laguna from four hours to two hours.

(Story/Photos by:Dolly Pasia-Ramos)