Historical railways The first attempt to construct a rail line in Mindanao was made in the 1890s, when the Spanish colonial government attempted to build a
Decauville railway between
Iligan and
Marawi. However, this was never finished. Not long after, a series of narrow-gauge railroads were opened by the
American government in Mindanao. These short lines were constructed to transport supplies and
United States Army personnel. A line was opened in Camp Keithley in what is now
Marawi where trains carried war
materiel on
flatcars. A gauge short line was also opened in
Jolo,
Sulu. The best-documented system built by the government was the single-track line of the
Davao Penal Colony in
Davao del Norte. The prison was established in 1932 by the American government. It was converted into a facility for American
POWs after its occupation by
Imperial Japanese Army forces in 1942. Davao Penal Colony survivor Raymond C. Heimbuch wrote in his book that the line suffered from poor condition of the rolling stock and lack of maintenance of the tracks. There were 40 flatcars and a sole
diesel locomotive, which replaced a steam locomotive whose
tender survived after the war. The diesel locomotive would pair with 5 or 6 flatcars that carried prisoners, sacks of rice, or forestry products. The train took a 45-minute trip per way. According to an interview with POW survivor Hayes Bolitho in 2009, the line is estimated to be long. He also commented that prisoners were forced to push the train in case of rain or when ascending steep grades due to the poor conditions of the tracks. A few years after the war, a two-car train welcomed the party of then-president
Elpidio Quirino during his visit to the area. In Misamis Oriental, the Anakan Lumber Company operated
Heisler locomotives in the town of
Gingoog during the 1920s and 1930s. These short lines were either destroyed during
World War II or dismantled (the Davao Penal Colony line was dismantled due to its condition sometime after President Quirino's visit). The metal used was then sold to the
Chinese black market due to the high market value of
iron there. Then-president
Manuel L. Quezon proposed the construction of an electrified railroad between
Cagayan de Oro (then known as Misamis) and
Davao City passing through the province of
Bukidnon. It would have been electrified by overhead lines powered by the
Maria Cristina Falls' hydroelectric power plant (now the Agus VI Hydroeletric Plant). This proposal was made in January 1936, and was taken note by Quezon's adviser
Francis Burton Harrison. Some
track bed construction began the same year, but the project was left incomplete without a single track placed when construction was halted in 1940. After the war, Manila Railroad General Manager and later-
Senator Prospero Sanidad proposed a
standard-gauge railway in 1952 with consideration for a future electrified network. A network long was proposed for construction with the assistance of American firm
De Leuw, Cather and Company. The following lines were proposed, each at least long: in 1964, establishment of a railway in Mindanao was made part of its mandate. Section 5 of the law explicitly stated that
₱50 million had been allocated for the survey and establishment of a railway on the island. When Republic Act 4156 was superseded by Republic Act 6366 in 1971, the same explicit mandate to create a Mindanao Railway, under the PNR, remained. However, when the law enabling the PNR was amended by Presidential Decree 741 in July 1975, reference to a railway in Mindanao was omitted.
Return of the Mindanao Railway to the national agenda On December 15, 1992, Fidel Ramos signed Memorandum Circular No. 23 which directed the formulation of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 1993–1998. Section 4.4.2 of this plan focused on Transportation. Sub-paragraph "M" called for a feasibility study for the Mindanao Railway under a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
From the Mindanao Railway System Task Force to the Mindanao Railway Project Office President Joseph Estrada created the Presidential Committee on Flagship Programs and Projects to identify projects for the administration. On October 7, 1998, the committee directed the Philippine National Railways, Public Estates Authority, and the Southern Philippine Development Authority to conduct preparatory studies for the Mindanao Railway System. On June 28, 1999, Estrada signed Administrative Order 74, series of 1999 which allocated ₱10 million to the Mindanao Rail System Task Force to, as stated in the order, "act as the clearing house for policy and operational issues affecting the implementation of the MRS Project". However, on February 11, 2002—after
Estrada's impeachment the year before—President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Executive Order 72, series 2002, which abolished the MRS Task Force. Later, however, Arroyo replaced the task force with another organization. On May 25, 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Executive Order 536 which created the Cebu Railway Project Office (CRPO) and the Mindanao Railway Project Office (MRPO) under the control of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC). Both were charged formulating plans for, identifying funding mechanisms for, and developing railways in Metro Cebu and Mindanao, respectively.
Mindanao Strategic Railway Development Plan The government made numerous studies and technical assessments during the 1990s. In the early 2000s, the Mindanao Strategic Railway Development Plan was formulated. The planned railway, with a total length of , was designed to span the entire island in a loop and was estimated to cost ₱66.5 billion. The plan for a railway divided into four phases:
Laguindingan to
Cagayan de Oro, Cagayan de Oro to
Tagoloan, Laguindingan to
Iligan, and Iligan to
Linamon. The network would have linked urban centers across the island and was aimed to cut the 90-minute travel time by bus between Cagayan de Oro and Iligan to 15–20 minutes. The project was slated to start construction in 2011, The project was later discontinued.
2010s As part of the updated 2011–2016 Philippine Development Plan, ₱400 million (US$8.85 million) was allotted for conducting
feasibility studies to develop infrastructure projects such as railways and roads. In 2014, there were debates on whether the system would be privately managed or run by the
Philippine National Railways, which intermittently operated inter-city rail services in
Luzon at the time. The
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the
National Economic and Development Authority conducted studies for the construction of a rail system in the island of
Mindanao along with its partners starting in 2015. The proposal in 2015 resembled the 1952 right-of-way. The government planned to build the railway in six phases, with the first running from
Iligan to
Gingoog. A pre-proposal conference was conducted in 2015, but the railway was not included in the Public-Private Partnership program.
Development Phase 1 The railway in its present form began development in the late 2010s. While JICA was conducting initial studies, then-presidential candidate
Rodrigo Duterte supported the construction of the railway. Upon Duterte's election, he aimed to begin construction of the first phase between the cities of
Tagum and
Digos by 2017 and open it partially before the end of his term in 2022, which did not happen due to rampant corruption. In 2018, the project, initially called the Trans-Mindanao High Speed Railway, was approved and received initial funding from
Congress. However, construction was delayed after several
eminent domain issues, specifically after residents of a high-end
gated community near Davao City has requested the
Department of Transportation (DOTr) to realign the railway line to avoid hitting an 18-hole
golf course. The railway's route was modified into a system centered around a circular mainline. However, it was later reverted into the old right-of-way, but now incorporates the extensions and branch lines featured in the 2019 proposal. In its current state, the project has 18 segments to be divided into 10 phases. On March 24, 2021, the DOTr Undersecretary for Project Implementation in Mindanao, Eymard Eje, Tagum mayor Allan Rellon, and Carmen mayor Virginia Perandos signed a deed of absolute sale for land to be used for the construction of the Tagumpay Train Village, a resettlement area for families affected by the project. As of April 2021, land acquisition from Panabo to Carmen was almost complete. On April 19, 2021, the city government of
Panabo issued an ordinance prohibiting any unrelated construction on the right-of-way of the Mindanao Railway. The Project Management Consultant Contract for the Tagum–Davao–Digos segment of the project was signed on October 20, 2021. It was also announced that the final length of the system would be . In July 2022, the project funding was withdrawn after the Chinese government failed to act on the funding requests by the Duterte administration, including the Subic–Clark Railway (later Subic–Clark–Manila–Batangas Railway under a new initiative) and
PNR South Long Haul projects. A month later, on August 11, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines
Huang Xilian and Transport Secretary
Jaime Bautista held formal talks ending in an agreement to restart negotiations for the three railway projects. On September 30, 2022, the DOTr said that the project could be finished by 2028 if the loan for the project was finalized by 2023. However, on October 25, 2023, the Philippine government declared that it had formally withdrawn its request for Chinese ODA funding. A day later, on the sidelines of the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry forum in
Makati, Bautista stated that the country can still seek assistance from other ODA partners like JICA, ADB, and the
World Bank. After China withdrew from funding the project in 2024, the government decided to re-study the first phase of the project with the inclusion of
freight services as part of its adjustments to the DOTr, and at the same time, the transportation department revamped the feasibility study of the project to use environmentally friendly or electric trains. At the same time, JICA announced that the funding decision for the project is not ready yet as it awaits the completion of a feasibility study with the revised project. In July of that year, 3 foreign firms expressed interest interest in pursuing the project.
Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Leo Tereso Magno said that there were 2 Korean and 1 Japanese firms their willingness to design and build the said project. In November, Vice President
Sara Duterte lamented the delay of the construction of the railway and made the pronouncement in a press conference in
Butuan when asked that regarding the development, particularly its rumored cancellation. The pre-construction activities are still ongoing. Nonetheless, the project is currently undergoing a revised feasibility study conducted by the ADB, via the Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility. According to Dizon, "We will try our best to look for funds for the Mindanao Railway,". Romeo Montenegro, the Assistant Secretary of MinDA, articulated that the initiative remains within the jurisdiction of the DOTr for further study. Montenegro recognized the public's dissatisfaction regarding the project's protracted advancement. In addressing the inquiry concerning the completion timeline of the railway prior to the current administration ends, it is noteworthy that the government is considering a PPP model. In September, the DOTr mentioned that studies are still in progress, with the ADB, France, India, and South Korea expressing interest in this project. They aim to complete the study by 2026. The agency failed to include the project in that year's budget. The government declared the relocation of the 178 families in November 2025. However, Senator
Alan Peter Cayetano claimed in January 2026 that the project had lost out on budgetary opportunities. Nonetheless, the feasibility study has been finalized, enabling ADB to potentially offer more advantageous financing conditions and reduced geopolitical limitations.
Phase 2 The second phase of the project, also known as the Northern Mindanao Railway, started its development in 2022 and was approved by the NEDA board in March 2023. At the same time, PPP Center granted the project's P100 million in funding for its feasibility study via the agency’s Project Development and Monitoring Facility, a revolving fund that supports infrastructure projects. It became one of the 194 flagship infrastructure projects under the
Marcos administration's
Build Better More program. The planned project and a feasibility study conducted by
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP are expected to be submitted in July 2024. Originally called Phase 3, the project has been rebranded to its current name as of 2025. A new study will be carried out, as it has been disclosed. In December of that year, Senator
Loren Legarda criticized the project's omission from the 2026 budget. == Construction ==