NEWSFLASH

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DELAYED NORTHRAIL COST DOUBLES TO $1.3-B

Manila, Dec. 26, 1997 - The 100-kilometer North Luzon Railway Project will cost $1.3 billion, more than twice the original budget of $600 million. The entire Northrail will connect Clark International Airport to Fort Bonifacio in Makati.

According to Victorino Basco, chairman of the Bases Conversion Development Authority, the original project cost estimate was based on railway laid down on regular terrain. However, a 5- kilometer portion had to be redesigned to be built on top of a viaduct, because the stretch runs through low-lying rice farms that regularly get inundated by rains.

On top of the price adjustment, another big issue is the long delay in the execution of the project, which will no longer be ready in time for the Philippine Centennial celebrations.

Like the modernized Clark International Airport, the Northrail is now scheduled to open in the year 2002.

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