Paco station

Last updated

Paco
Philippine National Railways (PNR).svg
Train station
PNR Paco Station Train 1.jpg
Platform area of Paco station
General information
Location Pedro Gil Street, Paco
Manila, Metro Manila
Philippines
Coordinates 14°34′45″N120°59′57″E / 14.57917°N 120.99917°E / 14.57917; 120.99917
Owned by Philippine National Railways
Operated byPhilippine National Railways
Line(s)  South Main Line
Planned: South Commuter
Former:  Naic and Cavite
Platforms2 side platforms
2 island platforms (NSCR)
Tracks2
6 (NSCR and SLH)
Construction
AccessibleYes
Architect William E. Parsons [lower-alpha 1]
Architectural style Beaux-Arts [lower-alpha 1]
Other information
Station codePC
History
OpenedMarch 25, 1908
Rebuilt2009
Services
Preceding station PNR Following station
Santa Mesa North Shuttle Dela Rosa
towards Bicutan
Pandacan
towards Tutuban
Metro South Commuter San Andres
towards IRRI
Future services
Preceding station PNR Following station
Santa Mesa NSCR Commuter
CIA–Calamba
Buendia
towards Calamba
Santa Mesa
towards Tutuban
NSCR Commuter
Tutuban–Calamba
Location
Location map Manila.png
Red pog.svg
Paco
Location within Metro Manila

Paco station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in the city of Manila, Philippines. It was originally opened by the Manila Railroad Company in 1908 as a major hub in the southern half of Manila, where trains toward Cavite province once operated. The old train station building was designed by William E. Parsons and was completed in 1915. Prior to the electrification plan in the late 1970s, Paco was the southernmost double-track station on the line.

Contents

The station eventually lost its significance in the following decades and only the façade remains intact with the interior in a state of decay after a 1996 demolition plan to give way for the construction of a shopping mall. A newer utilitarian platform area has been built for the PNR Metro Commuter Line behind the old station in 2009. Preservation efforts have been stated since 2015 with the construction of the North–South Commuter Railway.

History

Facade of the old station WTMP A-trio a19 1.JPG
Facade of the old station

Early history

The station was established on March 25, 1908, as a station serving the Manila Belt Line (from Tutuban to Paco) and the now-defunct Cavite Line (then from Paco to Binakayan in Kawit, Cavite). The railroad towards Muntinlupa, then in Rizal, was later inaugurated on June 21, 1908. Construction of the station began in 1912 and was completed by 1915. [1] What would become the old station building was designed by William E. Parsons, a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts and was the Consulting Architect of the Bureau of Public Works at that time. [2] [3] The Belt Line later gave way to the Manila Railroad's Main Line South in the 1910s.

During the Battle of Manila on February 7, 1945, the United States Army 148th Infantry Regiment crossed the Pasig River from the north and landed in the suburbs of Pandacan and Paco with the Filipino troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army. A battle took place around the station with some 300 Imperial Japanese Army defending it. [4]

Contemporary history

The old station fell into disuse in the years following the war. The station was partially demolished in 1996 to make way for a shopping mall in the area. [1] A new station was also built to the southwest as part of PNR's reconstruction in 2009 due to the old station building being unusable. [5]

The Department of Transportation and Communications started plans to restore and conserve the old station building in 2015. Heritage advocates including the Heritage Conservation Society welcomed the development. [6] As of July 2020, the new Paco station shall be built beside the old one with a buffer zone, similar to Seoul Station in South Korea. [7]

According to rendered images of the NSCR freight tracks belonging to the PNR South Long Haul's northward extension to the Port of Manila will pass through the bottom of the NSCR station and behind the original building. [8]

Station layout

L1
Platforms
Side platform, doors will open on the right
Platform A PNR Metro Commuter towards Tutuban (←)
Platform B PNR Metro Commuter towards Alabang (→)
Side platform, doors will open on the right
L1Concourse/
Street Level
Ticket Booths, Station Control, Shops, Pedro Gil Street

Nearby landmarks

The station is near Plaza Dilao, Paco Market, San Fernando de Dilao Church, Paco Catholic School, and Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion de la Concordia. Plaza Dilao is also where the statue dedicated to Blessed Dom Justo Takayama stands. Skyway Stage 3 passes by the old and new stations.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Old Paco station building

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine National Railways</span> Railway company in the Philippines

The Philippine National Railways (PNR) is a state-owned railway company in the Philippines which operates one commuter rail service between Metro Manila and Laguna, and local services between Sipocot, Naga and Legazpi in the Bicol Region. It is an attached agency of the Department of Transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transportation in the Philippines</span> Overview of rail transport in the Philippines

Rail transportation in the Philippines is currently used mostly to transport passengers within Metro Manila and provinces of Laguna and Quezon, as well as a commuter service in the Bicol Region. Freight transport services once operated in the country, but these services were halted. However, there are plans to restore old freight services and build new lines. From a peak of 1,100 kilometers (680 mi), the country currently has a railway footprint of 533.14 kilometers (331.28 mi), of which only 129.85 kilometers (80.69 mi) are operational as of 2024, including all the urban rail lines. World War II, natural calamities, underspending, and neglect have all contributed to the decline of the Philippine railway network. In the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report, the Philippines has the lowest efficiency score among other Asian countries in terms of efficiency of train services, receiving a score of 2.4, and ranking 86th out of 101 countries globally. The government is currently expanding the railway network up to 1,900 kilometers (1,200 mi) by 2022 through numerous projects.

A limited express is a type of express train, and express bus service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Mesa station</span> PNR Railway Station in Manila, Philippines

Santa Mesa station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in the city of Manila, Philippines. It is one of two stations in the line to have its own access road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasay Road station</span> Railway station in Makati, Philippines

Pasay Road station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is one of two stations in the line to have its own access road. It is named after Pasay Road, the old name of the Makati section of the adjacent Arnaiz Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sucat station</span> Railway station in Muntinlupa, Philippines

Sucat station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, Philippines. It was originally established by the Manila Railway Company in 1908 as part of the construction of the original Southern Lines to the province of Tayabas, since renamed Quezon. It is also the southernmost area on the PNR Metro Commuter Line to be upgraded to double track as a result of a proposed electrification scheme in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tutuban station</span> Train terminal in Manila

Tutuban station is the central railway terminus of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) network located in the city of Manila, Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balagtas station</span> A station of the abandoned Northrail line of Philippine National Railways (PNR)

Balagtas station is a former railway station located on the North Main Line in Bulacan, Philippines. It is currently being rebuilt as part of the first phase of the North–South Commuter Railway. It was also the terminus of the defunct Balagtas–Cabanatuan line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Pedro station</span> Railway station in San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines

San Pedro station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in Laguna, Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PNR Metro Commuter Line</span> Commuter rail line in the Philippines

The PNR Metro Commuter Line is a commuter rail line operated by the Philippine National Railways. It was first inaugurated as the Metro Manila Commuter Service in 1970, and originally served the North Main Line and the South Main Lines, as well as the defunct Carmona and Guadalupe branch lines. Since then, it adopted several names such as Metrotrak and Metrotren, before adopting its present name in the late 2000s. The line is also nicknamed the Orange Line due to its designation in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meycauayan station</span>

Meycauayan station is a former railway station located on the North Main Line in Bulacan, Philippines. The station was once part of the line until its discontinuation in 1988. It is currently being rebuilt as part of the first phase of the North–South Commuter Railway. The old station will also be preserved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North–South Commuter Railway</span> Future commuter railway line in the Philippines

The North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR), also known as the Clark–Calamba Railway, is a 147-kilometer (91-mile) urban rail transit system under construction in the island of Luzon, Philippines. Running from New Clark City in Capas to Calamba, Laguna with 36 stations and four services, the railway is designed to improve connectivity within the Greater Manila Area, and it will be integrated with the railway network in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PNR South Main Line</span> Philippine rail line

The PNR South Main Line is one of the two trunk lines that form the Philippine National Railways' network in the island of Luzon, Philippines. It was opened in stages between 1916 and 1938 by the Manila Railroad. Services peaked in the 1940s until the late 1960s, when the system started to decline. Since 1988, it was the only functioning inter-city rail after its counterpart to the north, the North Main Line, was closed. The intercity section of the line in Laguna, Quezon and the Bicol Region was then closed and reopened repeatedly between 2004 and 2014 due to a combination of declining ridership and was closed since then. Currently, only a little more than half of line is operational PNR Metro Commuter Line between Tutuban station and Laguna, Inter-Provincial Commuter from San Pedro to Lucena and the Bicol Commuter regional rail service between Sipocot, Naga Camarines Sur and Legazpi Albay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tutuban Center</span> Shopping complex/transit hub in the Philippines

Tutuban Center is a shopping complex and public transit hub in Manila, the Philippines that opened in 1993. It encompasses five retail buildings and a parking building in and around Manila's central train station located in the shopping precinct of Divisoria in Tondo district. The 20-hectare (49-acre) mixed-use development includes the original two-story brick and iron main terminal building of the Ferrocaril de Manila-Dagupan built in 1887, a declared national historical building by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines since 1934. It also includes the Bonifacio Plaza fronting the old terminal building on Recto Avenue where a statue of Andrés Bonifacio was erected in 1971. Its integrated mall complex houses a mix of wholesale and retail bazaars and covers only 8.5 hectares of the total 20-hectare development. The complex will house the interchange station between the proposed North–South Commuter Railway and an extension of the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2 according to the masterplan submitted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2015. Its redevelopment plan also entails the construction of several mixed-use buildings, including office towers, residential buildings, hotels, a convention center, and a 300-metre (980 ft)-high observation tower to be known as the Tower of Maynila.

College Station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PNR South Long Haul</span> Philippine rail line

The PNR South Long Haul Project, also known as PNR Bicol is a proposed inter-city rail line in southern Luzon, Philippines. It is part of the larger Luzon Rail System, a network of long-distance standard-gauge lines being built by the Philippine National Railways throughout Luzon. It is one of the two lines that will reconstruct the historic PNR South Main Line, along with the electrified North–South Commuter Railway South section to Calamba, Laguna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PNR North Main Line</span> Rail service between the NCR and Central Luzon, Philippines

The PNR North Main Line is one of the two trunk lines of the Philippine National Railways in the island of Luzon, the other being the PNR South Main Line. The line during its maximum extent led to various cities and municipalities in Central Luzon and the Ilocos Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transportation in the Greater Manila Area</span>

Rail transportation in the Greater Manila Area is a major part of the transportation system in Metro Manila and its surrounding areas. It consists of the Manila Light Rail Transit System, Manila Metro Rail Transit System, and the PNR Metro Commuter Line. The network makes up the majority of active railways in the country and bear the brunt of providing the metropolis with rail as a faster alternative mode of transport other than buses and jeepneys. However, these systems are currently insufficient for the rapidly expanding metropolis; to address this, new lines and line extensions are under construction, which will extend the system far out into neighboring regions.

References

  1. 1 2 De Guzman, Nicai (March 1, 2019). "There's Art Hidden Inside This Abandoned Manila Railway Station". Esquire Philippines. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  2. "Report of the governor general of the Philippine Islands". 1908. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  3. "The 8 Most Haunting 'Abandoned' Places in the Philippines". September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  4. Figueroa, Antonio (February 11, 2010). "Paco Railroad Station Soon to Become Historic Landmark". Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  5. Cooper, David (2009). "3D Virtual Building Constructions From ActiveWorlds". Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  6. Palaña, Aberon Voltaire (June 23, 2015). "Paco restoration earns accolades". The Manila Times. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  7. Environmental Impact Statement Report (EISR) for the South Commuter Railway Project (SCRP). Malolos–Clark Railway Project (Blumentritt Extension) and South Commuter Railway Project for Packages CP S-01 and CP S-02; Construction Of Civil Structures: Viaducts, Bridges, and Four Stations (Report). Department of Transportation (Philippines). December 4, 2020.
  8. Pan, Andrew (December 7, 2020). Render of the PNR NSCR Paco station . Philippine Train Enthusiast and Railfans Club. Retrieved September 16, 2021.(registration required)