The Philippine National Railways (PNR) construction of the Metro Manila portion of the 147-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) will go full blast by October this year.

At the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, PNR chair Michael Ted Macapagal said the National Capital Region (NCR) pre-construction works involve fencing, removal of old tracks and resolving right of way (ROW) issues.

“We’re putting up fences in areas so that people can no longer pass and no one can live there or whatever. We will secure those areas,” Macapagal said.

He said old tracks will be migrated to other areas while clearing operations and ROW concerns are already being attended to.

In NCR, there will be construction of elevated and at-grade tracks and stations from Blumentritt, Manila to Sucat, Parañaque City.

He said the northern line of the NSCR is 50 percent complete and he sees the entire project completed by 2027.

The PNR’s Metro Manila line (Manila to Muntinlupa) is temporarily suspended, starting March 28, to give way to NSCR works.