PNR’s new trains from Indonesia start operations

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Train commuters can now experience smoother and more convenient rides with the inaugural run today, 28 January 2021, of the Philippine National Railway’s (PNR) three new Diesel Hydraulic Locomotives (DHL) with 15 passenger coaches that were built in Indonesia.

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade, PNR General Manager Junn Magno, other transport officials, representatives from the Republic of Indonesia Embassy in Manila, and representatives from PT Industri Kereta Api (PT-INKA) the firm that made the train sets, graced the ceremonial class assignment and inaugural run from the PNR Dela Rosa Station in Makati to the Manila Tutuban Station.

The new train sets will serve commuters on the PNR's Metro Commuter Line which runs from the Tutuban Station in Manila to Los Baños in Laguna. With the addition of the new train sets, the PNR Metro Commuter Line now targets to serve a total of 140,000 passengers daily doubling its existing capacity from 48,000 to 60,000 per day.

Secretary Tugade said the inaugural run of the new PNR train sets assures the riding public of safe, convenient, and comfortable travels.

“Nakaumang na ‘yung tren, darating na ‘yung tren, sasakay na tayo ng tren upang sa ganoon ay maramdaman natin ang katanungan ng mga tao noong tayo ay nagsimula: ‘Kailan mababago ang PNR?’ Ngayon po, patuloy na binabago natin ang PNR. ‘Kailan darating ang bagong tren?’ Ngayon po, dumating na ang bagong tren. At ‘Kailan naman natin masasakyan ang bagong tren?’ Ngayon po, pasisinayaan at sasakyan natin ang mga bagong tren,” Secretary Tugade said.

The Transportation Chief also commended the men and women of the PNR for their relentless work in transforming the rail network and for developing the country’s railway system. Secretary Tugade specifically noted that PNR stations have increased from 25 to the present 34.

“For you to have an improved rail movement, you must have the facility, and the rails. You must have the trains and the coaches, and you must have the people. The three are being done by Junn Magno and the PNR.”

Secretary Tugade also thanked PT INKA and the Indonesian Embassy in Manila for their support in realizing the development projects of the country, especially in the rail sector.

For his part, PNR GM Junn Magno pointed out that the last class assignment for trains was done way back in 2008. However, under the Duterte administration, there have already been four class assignments, along with the implementation of other railway projects.

“This administration has implemented more railway projects, has assigned more classes, has introduced new innovations, has introduced new generations of rolling stocks classes than any other administrations combined. And that is through the leadership of Secretary Tugade. This is his legacy,” GM Magno said.

The new train sets are part of the PNR Management Re-fleeting Strategy which involves the delivery of train sets composed of 37 cars and three locomotives procured in 2018.

The re-fleeting project aims to increase the PNR's capacity to accommodate 1,330 passengers per set in a single trip.

The train sets have a maximum design speed of 120 kilometers per hour, with high clearance for flooded tracks. Each train set features an interior access to the engine room, the first of its kind for the PNR fleet. The train sets are also equipped with 36,000 kilocalories per hour of air conditioning in each coach that is suitable for tropical countries like the Philippines.

Japan-financed Light Rail Vehicles manufactured in Spain for LRT-1, Extension Project unveiled

Wazzup Pilipinas!


The first set of the 4th generation light rail vehicles (LRVs) to be used for the LRT-1 and its extension line - the much-awaited LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project was unveiled on 26 January 2020.

In the arrival ceremony held at the Manila Harbor, transport officials led by Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, graced the event, together with officials of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), and members of the diplomatic corps.

The first set and second set of 4th generation LRVs were manufactured in Spain. The 2nd to 4th train set are already en route to Philippines, while the remaining LRV train sets (5th to 30th) are being manufactured and tested in Mexico. Deliveries are scheduled until 2022.

Secretary Tugade said the arrival of the first set of the 4th generation LRVs in the country will be a big boost to the realization of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project, which has been delayed for almost two (2) decades. The transportation chief also reiterated the need to hasten the project's completion for partial operability before the year ends.

"As we inaugurate the unveiling and the acceptance of the 4th generation of cars and trains, I remember distinctly well that 19 years ago, this project (LRT-1 Cavite Extension) was started," Secretary Tugade said.

"Under the Duterte Administration, we pushed and pushed hard. That is why today, we see the steps of the whole realization of this project--partial operability within this year, by accepting the trains and the cars," he added.

Meanwhile, Japan Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa and JICA Senior Representative Kiyo Kawabuchi expressed their full support for the projects and programs of the government, especially in providing Filipinos with an efficient transportation system.

“I served JICA as an Executive Senior Vice President for four years, so I share this same ardent passion with the DOTr leadership. Now, I am here in this country, I am completely committed to work closely with our friends from the Philippine government to achieve these infrastructure goals, together with JICA,” Ambassador Koshikawa said.

"We are confident that this new addition to the existing fleet of coaches shall further improve the service of LRT line 1 with the involvement of private sector, LRMC, for the operations and maintenance. And therefore, provide the commuting public with a more efficient, faster, reliable, and safer mass transport system to improve their daily commuting experience and quality of life," Kawabuchi meanwhile added.

The new 4th generation LRV trainsets consume less energy and are equipped with new operational features, improved cooling system, and are more PWD-friendly compared to previous LRV generations.

The acquisition of new trains for the LRT-1 line is part of the massive expansion now being taken by the country's rail sector to the train fleet from a total of 224 train cars in 2016 to 1,381 ordered, under production, delivered, and operational train cars by 2022.

Pinoy-Made Vietnam War Game Gets Expansion

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Following the success of Vietnam War RTS game The Nam: Vietnam Combat Operations, Pinoy game developer Tiger Yan has just released a freely-downloadable expansion pack called Wider War.

“Wider War expands the coverage of the game from just Vietnam, to the neighboring countries affected by the war, such as Laos and Cambodia. It also covers the wars Vietnam fought with China and Cambodia,” explains Yan.

As well as introducing dozens of new units, the expansion includes seven new maps – covering Laos, Cambodia, North and South Vietnam.

South Vietnam Finally Honored

“No side lost more than the South Vietnamese, many of whom emigrated to America and other countries after Saigon was taken by North Vietnamese forces in April 1975,” explains Yan, who met many former soldiers of the now-defunct Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), South Vietnam’s much maligned army. “Not only did they lose the war. They lost their country and were forced to assimilate into either new countries or the new Vietnam.”

Often portrayed as inept, corrupt and cowardly, the ARVN actually fought well until their final defeat in 1975, even repelling a full-scale North Vietnamese invasion in 1972. Their courage was best exemplified by the Battle of Xuan Loc, where ARVN Brigadier General Le Minh Dao’s 18th Division stopped North Vietnam for two full weeks before finally being overwhelmed. The map allows players to command regular and elite ARVN forces – including Marines, rangers, paratroopers and even Dao himself. Xuan Loc’s fall heralded the end for the US-backed nation of South Vietnam. 

The Killing Fields of Cambodia

The supposedly neutral country of Cambodia was long used by North Vietnam as a base of operations for operations in South Vietnam, who invaded Cambodia with the Americans in 1970. After Vietnam was unified in 1975, dissident Khmer Rouge forces started raiding and massacring Vietnamese villages across the border, igniting a war with Vietnam, who rightfully crushed the Khmer Rouge and freed the vast majority of Cambodians from the nightmarish Pol Pot regime – all within two weeks.

Unfortunately for Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge started adopting the same guerilla tactics that worked so well for them during their war with the Americans. By the end of the Cambodian-Vietnamese War 10 years later, nearly 30,000 Vietnamese had died. This period has since been termed ‘Vietnam’s Vietnam’ and has largely been forgotten even by the Vietnamese government.

Players can now command the fanatical Khmer Rouge, including forcefully conscripted child soldiers, to ward off American attacks or Vietnamese invaders. “As the Khmer Rouge had similar weapons to Vietnam, it’s the only map in the game where Vietnamese can play against Vietnamese and still be relatively historically accurate,” adds Yan. The map features not just beautiful Khmer temples and Cambodian villages, but the grim reality of child soldiers and Cambodia’s killing fields. “I personally walked through the Killing Fields and saw bones, clothes and teeth. I wanted to pull no punches and show what the Khmer Rouge really did there.”



Laos and Lima Site 85

Laos, another supposedly neutral country, hosted vast tracts of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which supplied North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops with men and material during the Vietnam War. The game includes a section of the Ho Chi Minh trail which passed through the misty dirt roads of the Truong Son Mountain Range. Though repeatedly attacked by American aircraft, the trail was never cut. South Vietnam launched an immense raid called ‘Lam Son 719’ to destroy North Vietnamese basecamps in Laos, but was repulsed with heavy losses.

One of the little-known battles of the Vietnam War was the battle for Lima Site 85, where a top-secret US Air Force radar site was destroyed by North Vietnamese commandos. The battle would remain veiled in secrecy until details were revealed decades after the war ended. “The Lima Site, manned by CIA and air force personnel and Hmong troops, can be controlled in the game, which also shows Laos brimming with undetonated American bombs.” Laos remains the most heavily-bombed country on Earth.

America’s air war over North Vietnam is also covered via a scenario called Rolling Thunder, where the full might of America’s warplanes went head-to-head against North Vietnam’s air defenses, reputedly the toughest in the world in the 60s and 70s.



The Sino-Vietnamese War

China invaded Vietnam briefly in 1979 in a short but bloody war. In February 1979, 200,000 Chinese troops backed by 500 tanks attacked the northernmost provinces of Vietnam. Though they succeeded in taking the towns of Lang Son, Cao Bang and Lao Cai, they suffered disproportionately huge casualties against the better-trained and well-prepared Vietnamese. The game puts players in either the boots of the Chinese invaders or Vietnamese defenders.

Vietnam Combat Operations Wider War also showcases revamped maps and units, adding layers of detail to the original game, which was released publicly in September 2020. “For example, Saigon now features the US Embassy, National Radio Station, Tan Son Nhut Airbase and even a city jail which you can capture to get armed prisoners and a few flustered medical doctors,” says Yan. “The new Long Tan map allows you to train ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand) troops, who famously won the 1966 Battle of Long Tan against the Vietcong. There’s a lot we did to make the maps and units better.”

The expansion pack is the culmination of an 18-year old project Yan began in 2003. “Vietnam Combat Operations uses the Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun engine to bring the Vietnam War to life. It’s a nonprofit educational game for people to experience and overcome the many challenges of jungle-based guerilla warfare, from not seeing your enemies to approaching and controlling potentially hostile towns and villages. Unlike most Vietnam War games which tend to glorify Americans, all sides are portrayed as heroes fighting for their own causes.”

The game has received good reviews and though it can be downloaded online for free, Yan urges gamers to make a donation to APOPO, a nonprofit organization working to clear deadly landmines in Cambodia. “In reality, the Vietnam War wrought great misery for the people of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. If this game can spur at least one good donation, then it would have been worth it,” concludes Yan.

Watch The Nam: Vietnam Combat Operations videos here. Download Vietnam Combat Operations Wider War for FREE here.


E - TheNamCombatOperations@Gmail.com

F - The ‘Nam: Vietnam Combat Operations

M - The ‘Nam Mod DB Page

W - The ‘Nam Wiki Page



* For more information about the game, Mod DB, Gamepedia and Facebook pages can be accessed and all resources used to support the Press Release. A special version of Wider War has been prepared for you and can be downloaded via the steps below:

1) Access your free download here: Bit.ly

2) Click on the grey box with three horizontal dots [ . . . ]. 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 (Vietnam Combat Operations Public Release 2020). The folder with its 99 files can be downloaded through a single click.

3) Once the download finishes, open the folder then find and double-click on 𝗩𝗖𝗢.𝗕𝗔𝗧 or Game.exe. To play in fullscreen, just click Tsconfig and customize your resolution.

4) Click 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆 and choose your battle. The attached 𝗩𝗖𝗢 Wider War 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗲 contains everything players need to understand and master the game and its myriad maps and units. Please enjoy!