A LAWMAKER from Bicol said that the Department of Transportation's (DoTr) plan to operate a cargo rail line between Laguna and Albay could play a pivotal role in reenergizing the economy of the region while helping lower food prices for consumers.

In a statement on Friday, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan hopes that the DoTr would push through the proposed P5 billion Laguna to Albay freight service as it could bring down logistics costs for Bicol farmers supplying vegetables and other agricultural products to Metro Manila.

His statement comes after Transportation Undersecretary Jeremy Regino said that the Philippine National Railways (PNR) is transferring its existing lines in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) corridor and the Bicol Region in order to operate cargo trains between Calamba, Laguna, and Legzapi, Albay, by next year.

The DoTr said that it plans to operate a single freight trip per day in the evening to prevent disruptions in commuter services in the Laguna-Albay line.

"Bicol farmers and traders will immensely benefit from this project. Rail transportation is cheaper and more efficient than trucking services in moving large volumes of cargo over long distances, which, in turn, will help reduce costs for those supplying goods from Bicol to Metro Manila and vice versa," Yamsuan added.

He said that affordable and efficient rail transport would also spur increased business activities between the two points, and with Laguna and nearby provinces being located with different industrial parks, it could help reinvigorate Bicol's economy and create more jobs in the region.

"Also, lower logistics costs would translate into higher incomes for farmers and traders, and lower food prices for consumers," Yamsuan added.

He said that the plan of the DoTr to retrofit the existing Laguna-Albay line for cargo could be a "good start" in pursuing the "renaissance of the Bicol Express."

The lawmaker has been a proponent of the revival of the Bicol Express railway that would connect Metro Manila and Albay through the South Long Haul project.

Yamsuan said that he would support the DoTr-PNR project if it is presented before lawmakers at the upcoming deliberations of the 2025 national budget.

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