The railroad network in Luzon, predecessor to today's Philippine National Railways, was first proposed on August 6, 1875. To the north of Manila are two main lines, one leading to
Laoag,
Ilocos Norte and the other leading to
Tuguegarao,
Cagayan. The system was approved by the
Spanish East Indies government in 1880, but construction did not commence until 1887 due to the lack of a concession operator. Unlike the South Main Line which was built to its planned terminus in
Legazpi, Albay, the North Main Line network never reached its intended termini in
Laoag for the northwestern line and
Tuguegarao for the northeastern line.
Spanish era The Manila Railway Company,
Limited was created on June 1, 1887, and construction began. According to Gary Satre on an investigative article in 1999, the use of
3 feet, 6 inches gauge was made both as a cost-cutting measure and to allow tighter curves to suit the island's mountainous terrain. One of the main obstacles in the construction stage is crossing the
Rio Grande de Pampanga, after which a box
truss bridge was built. Between 1888 and 1890, thirty
Manila Railway Dagupan class locomotives were ordered from
Neilson and Company and
Dübs and Company. Various
passenger railcars and
boxcars were also ordered from unknown British manufacturers. Prior to the opening of the full length of the line to
Pangasinan,
José Rizal was one of the most popular commuters of the early Ferrocarril de Manila a Dagupan. He used the line to recruit potential
La Liga Filipina members prior to his exile. On February 23, 1892, he took a train to San Fernando station in Pampanga. He then commuted to various other locations in Central Luzon, until he took his last train with a trip to
Tarlac on June 26. He wrote that the trip took 5 hours, 40 minutes. This was 2 weeks prior to his exile to
Dapitan.
Revolutionary and American era Manila Railway trains were used by both the
Philippine Revolutionary Army and the
United States Army forces during the
Philippine–American War. President
Emilio Aguinaldo and his cabinet ministers used First Class car Z4 as their primary method of travel on the railroad, especially during their retreat to northern Luzon. On the other hand, the advancing American forces used the Manila Railway to carry freight and Army soldiers. Trains were also used as mobile hospitals, carrying soldiers who were either injured or killed during the fighting. A river bridge in
Bamban,
Tarlac was destroyed along with one of the
Dagupan class locomotives used by the US Army. This is to prevent the American advance to Central Luzon. However, the efforts to sabotage the network were futile as Filipino forces were eventually defeated and President Aguinaldo was captured in 1901. After the war, the network was repaired and expanded. The British owners were still allowed to operate for the following years, having reorganized into the Manila Railway Company (1906) Limited. Meanwhile, an American operator named the Manila Railroad Company (MRR) Corporation was established in
New Jersey that same year. By 1909, the Manila Railroad took control of the system, although Horace L. Higgins still leads as its general manager in the country and the
Annual Report was still prepared with British conventions. The
Baguio Special, the Philippines' first named
express train service, was inaugurated in 1911. Originally only stopping at Damortis in
Rosario, La Union with a luxury car service heading for the
hill station of
Baguio, this train started the scramble for a direct rail service. Construction for the Aringay–Baguio line started in 1914 but was never finished and the tunnel leading to the city was never completed, citing British involvement in
World War I as the reason. This later made the Manila Railway's remaining Philippine unit to be absorbed into the Manila Railroad on January 8, 1917, with general manager Horace L. Higgins replaced by
Colonel Henry Bayard McCoy. Under McCoy's leadership, the Manila Railroad modernized its locomotive fleet with the purchase of several American-built tender locomotives over the next few years. Meanwhile, the
American Car and Foundry provided both regular passenger and
sleeping cars, starting with the new
Baguio Night Special service. After his death in 1923, he was then succeeded by Jose Paez, the first Filipino general manager of the company. Paez continued the fleet modernization started by McCoy as well as expanded the network to its established termini at
San Fernando, La Union on March 16, 1929, and a seamless network to the
Bicol Region was opened on May 8, 1938.
World War II and Japanese occupation Although the line was damaged after the
First Philippines campaign during
World War II, the Japanese briefly extended it to
Sudipen near the
La Union–
Ilocos Sur border, some north of San Fernando. After the
Second Philippines campaign, the line has been closed. The line was eventually dismantled so that track materials would give way for the reconstruction of the Main Line South's network. Additionally, the Aringay–Tuba section of the Baguio line was closed and the 300 class rack tank locomotives used for this service were scrapped in 1945. However, the tracks remained by as late as the 1960s and were built over by
paddy fields. Around eighty percent of its rolling stock were also destroyed. The system was eventually rebuilt, but not all branch lines were restored. In 1951,
Ramon Magsaysay was appointed as general manager of the Manila Railroad. Under Magsaysay's term as general manager despite being only three months, made the company extend its network to
Bacnotan. He would also preside the beginning of the
Cagayan Valley extension. Yards along the North Main Line in Pampanga became the storage location of these locomotives until they were all scrapped in the 1960s and onwards.
PNR era in
Malolos,
Bulacan. Originally proposed in 1978, the project's previous forms were repeatedly constructed and abandoned by as late as 2011. By 1964, the Manila Railroad was reorganized and renamed into the present
Philippine National Railways. The renaming took inspiration from the
Japanese National Railways. The early days of the PNR was also claimed to be the agency's golden years. While operations were smaller in scale to its southern counterpart, the North Main Line was still a popular means of travel leading out of
Metro Manila. The line sought an estimated daily ridership of 3,000 passengers. Since then, the
Ramos administration took advantage of the recently closed North Main Line to revitalize plans to
electrify the
commuter rail service in
Metro Manila. The project was originally proposed by the
Japan International Cooperation Agency in 1978. This was named as the Manila–Clark rapid railway project with the assistance of Spain. Construction continued as the
Northrail project during the
presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but stopped during the
presidency of Benigno Aquino III due to disagreements with its Chinese backers. The project was never completed and ended like the failed
Hopewell Project of
Bangkok, Thailand. It was not until the 2010s when the present form was realized as the
North–South Commuter Railway. Another railway project was also proposed during the late 1990s as part of the
Philippines 2000 program under President Ramos. In 1995, the Manila–Rizal–Laguna–Quezon Growth Corridor (MARILAQUE) was proposed and the MARILAQUE Commission was established for the development of the area. They were tasked by the national government to implement the
Silangan Railway Express 2000 project. The line would have connected the northern half of
Metro Manila to Rizal similar to the pre-war Antipolo and Marikina lines. It would then be extended eastward towards eastern Rizal province and northern Quezon, both more rural than the areas once plied by the two aforementioned lines. While plans continued under the term of President
Joseph Estrada with the
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) by as late as 1999, it never materialized and was not considered to be built by future administrations.
Reopening and contemporary history There were no services on the North Main Line during much of the 2000s, although the line was still used for trains heading to PNR's maintenance facility in Caloocan. Trial service on the North Main Line were planned later on. Between 2009 and 2010, PNR stations were renovated including a number of stations on the North Main Line. Some second-hand 12 series coaches were also acquired from the
East Japan Railway Company as the NR class. These coaches were later reassigned to the South Main Line. Despite these initial plans not continuing as planned, the line was eventually reactivated. A
Shuttle Service was opened from
10th Avenue station in
Caloocan to
Dela Rosa station in
Makati on August 1, 2018. Since then, a regular
Metro North Commuter service has been opened and the
Shuttle Service was expanded to
Bicutan station in
Parañaque. Since 2020, the newly purchased
PNR 8000 class diesel multiple units were then assigned to the line and replaced second-hand
KiHa 350s and
KiHa 52s DMUs. ==Station list==