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When I was younger the train which is operating near our village can just be heard with its loud siren. I would sometimes see the train pass by when me and my mother are waiting for a bus ride for my quarterly appointment to my neurologist in Manila because I was being treated with my mild epilepsy until we decided to stop going until the early 90's.
So when the train stopped coming and going I just missed it as it had also became part of my life. Now the government will make a total transformation of the train system with an elevated platform on crossing and will be fenced for safety and security of both the public and the train itself.
There will be two lanes instead of one and will run at about 130 kms per hour which will mean a travel time of about six hours only from the south of the Northern main island to Manila. It will then cost about 1.3 Billion dollars under the current government's program of "Build, Build, Build" and will start next year.
This would boost the commerce because of the improved transportation of people and goods so the provinces will benefit from that. I just hope that it includes Manila to my province because I am at the center of the main island Luzon.
I think it is just the first phase of the train system transformation and I do not know if it would include my province since my expectation was to see and ride the train again but due to my current heath and disability I might just hear the siren again if God wills it again.