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Plans
Plans to rehabilitate and expand the railway network have been made by various administrations. South Korea and the People's Republic of China have offered to help rehabilitate the Philippine railway system, the former assisting with the rehabilitation and modernization of the South Main Line and the latter helping to finance, build, and operate a rationalized North Main Line service as well as helping to rehabilitate and modernize the South Main Line.

North Line (Tutuban-Malolos)
The new name for the old Northrail project was announced by Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on June 25, 2017 with a ceremony in which the first 5 stations were given their location markers. It aims to cut travel time between the two cities from two hours to 55 minutes, allowing easier travel for commuters from Bulacan and Pampanga who travel daily to Manila for work or school. The 106-kilometer railway line will run from Tutuban Station in Manila to Malolos in Bulacan. Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, passing through Clark International Airport. There will be 13 trainsets with 8 coaches per set, each capable of achieving a maximum speed of 120 km/h (75 mph). The project will cost ₱255 billion (US$5.1 billion) with financial assistance from Japan. Construction is expected to start in the last quarter of 2017 and to be completed by 2021.

Pre-construction work such as clearing of the right of way has been started as of January 2018. With the project finalized, ROWs secured and funding guaranteed, the groundbreaking and "full-blast construction" from Tutuban to Malolos started on February 15, 2019.

Extensions
The North-South Commuter Railway Extension Project is comprised of two sections – the Malolos-Clark Railway Project (MCRP) and the North-South Railway - South Line (Commuter).

South Line (Solis-Calamba)
As part of the DuterteNomics ("Build-Build-Build") infrastructure program by Rodrigo Duterte, the Metro South Commuter Line will be reconstructed as an electrified standard-gauge full double-track line. On September 12, 2017, the National Economic and Development Authority approved the construction of the newer line, as part of the longer Long-haul Railway that will connect Northern Luzon and Metro Manila to Legazpi and Matnog, and Batangas City. Funding for the project, which costs ₱131 billion, is provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and is expected to serve 300,000 passengers a day at its initial year of operation.

PNR South Long Haul Project
Along with the reconstruction of the Metro South Commuter Line, the railway line to Bicol (to Legazpi and Matnog) will be reconstructed. The Calamba to Batangas City Line will also be revived. The National Economic and Development Authority approved the projects in September 2017, but, no clear timeline of construction has been set. The construction of the Manila-Bicol and Calamba-Batangas City lines will be funded by the government of China, and those lines will feature new standard-gauge lines, to be initially operating as single-track lines and eventually, become double-track lines.

PNR East West Line (Line 8)
The PNR East West Line, also known as MRT Line 8, is a proposed rapid transit line in Metro Manila in the Philippines, generally running in an east-west direction along the Radial Road 7 and a portion of the Radial Road 8.

The line serves 11 stations on 9.4 kilometers (5.8 mi) of line. The rails are mostly elevated and erected either over or along the roads covered, with sections below ground. The western terminus of the line is the Quiapo station infont of Quiapo Church, while the eastern terminus of the line is the Diliman station along Commonwealth Avenue in Barangay Old Capitol Site, Quezon City. The rail line serves the cities that Radial Road 7 (Commonwealth Avenue, Elliptical Road, Quezon Avenue, España Boulevard and Quezon Boulevard) passes through: Manila and Quezon City.

As part of the infrastructure program by president Rodrigo Duterte, East-West Rail was proposed by the East-West Rail Transit Corp., a consortium between A. Brown Company Inc. and Private Equity Investment and Development Corp. It involves the financing, design, construction, and maintenance of a mostly-elevated 9.4-kilometer railway line from Diliman in Quezon City to Quiapo in Manila.

The project is currently awaiting approval from NEDA to proceed. It is also currently tackling right-of-way issues, such as that of the España Boulevard alignment.

Freight revival
Within February 2016, the PNR's planned freight comeback will start with a planned signing of a memorandum of agreement between the railway and rail freight operator MRAIL (a Meralco subsidiary firm) for the rehabilitation of the rail lines to North Harbor and to restart the freight services starting 2017, which will also help reduce traffic congestion and truck use in the NCR. If completed, MRail will jointly operate the freight service with the PNR, which will end a long absence of railway freight services in the country. This will be the second time the PNR will partner with ICTSI. A statement made by MRail Inc., a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., said that discusions regarding PNR freight service revival from Port of Manila to the Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal resulted in the appointment of a new board at the Philippine National Railways. Representatives of PNR and ICTSI conducted an inspection of the ROW where the former railtracks leading to the North Harbor existed, signalling the start of the action to realize the cargo rail revival.

Mindanao Railway
President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his support for the establishment of a railway system in the entire island of Mindanao which could be in operation after his term ends. The railway system to be built in Mindanao will have about 2,000 kilometers of track, and considered one of Rodrigo Duterte's primary infrastructure projects. The first phase, which is 105 km, would start construction in the third quarter of 2018 and was expected to be completed by 2022.