railing the nation
It was a warm and sunny day. Walking through the street had the surreal reality of living. Marrickville streets are typically empty, and since it was a public holiday, shops were closed, streets looked emptier even with the passing cars which take on the semblance of whizzing background aimed left and right. While on days like this, suburbs look like ghost towns, it wasn't an ordinary day. It was Australia day, and it was time for celebrating the building of a new nation, though on the basis of taking it from the original inhabitants.
Didn't get to see much of the celebration; we were going to Gosford. We waited at the Marrickville station for a few minutes. A Filipino couple passed by us. Rode the first iron giant to Central, then would switch to countrylink at the station. Central Station is a Victorian building criscrossed by the rail lines. It is modernity and the past intersecting at this hub of one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.
People bustling by to get to their destinations. It is a blur of life on the tracks of movement.
Had to get ahead of a queue to pay for my copy of the Sydney Morning Herald. Then took the train at platform 10 beside the news agency. Read through a bit of the paper. Suburban stations passed by - relativity theory in mind. Then the mobile phallus shot through the black hole of mountain tunnels, emerging to the green savour of the national parks and the sudden burst of the blue and golden incandescence of coastal and waterside towns on both sides. If there was a train line through the Visayas Islands and Mindanao, the view would be something nearly similar. Nature has a global facade.
There's this place, Hawkesbury River, where it looked like a line of earth was piled on the river to allow passage for the metal hulk. This was the Central Coast, about two hours fast drive north of Sydney.
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Great nations were built on vast tracks of rail. Before the advent of airplanes, trains provided the transportation of products and people throughout great areas. It minimized transportation time that used to be carried on the backs of horses or pack animals, was cheaper, and helped greatly in communication and interchange of culture, the building of national identity and the broadening of perspectives. Conscious and enjoyable travel unfastens that.
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There should be extended rail lines from Manila to the northern Luzon and eastern provinces. The rail network should also lead to the Visayas and Mindanao. From Luzon, one can come up with a line from Manila through Southern Tagalog then to Bicol, perhaps an underwater tunnel to Samar then a large aboveground bridge or underwater tunnel to Leyte and a submarine tunnel to Surigao and then to the rest of Mindanao. That's the eastern side. Alternatively, there could be a line from Manila to Batangas and a submarine tunnel to Mindoro. Diverging, there could be a line to Palawan from here. To continue, from the south of Mindoro, another tunnel to Panay Island, past Caticlan (which is where Boracay is), going through Iloilo, to Negros Island, with Dumaguete at the southern point of Visayas . Then it continues to Dapitan and the rest of Mindanao. Cebu could be connected from the east and west sides. The east from Leyte, and the west from Negros Island from Iloilo. Bohol can be connected through Cebu. A submarine connection could also be built from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro and the rest of Mindanao.
The setting up of such a railway network could do more for nation-building through the establishment of a tightened economic connection that easier transportation engenders. It paves the way to understanding and peace, if the underlying grievances are of course politically addressed. This is easier said than done. It requires stellar determination to launch such a grand infrastructure project, amidst the obstacles set up by debt, corruption and parochial lack of vision.
The RORO connection is an idea in the right direction, though there are problems on the road, and the program looks more like a PR job for Arroyo than a serious endeavour. Transportation is in the hands of the private sector, so fare is still in the domain of the market, which hinders movement for many people. Also, those ports Gloria named for her clan looks more like self-aggrandizement.
The building up of rail lines would also create another industry, not least in maintenance and the fostering of engineering. With the discovery of oil deposits near Palawan and in Mindanao, uranium ore in Ifugao, mineral deposits throughout the islands, plus the usual flora and fauna that could enrich not just industry but a whole way of life, there is a case that should be made for the building of the Philippine train. In this way, we also lay down the railroad to the Filipinos' liberation and opportunity.
Didn't get to see much of the celebration; we were going to Gosford. We waited at the Marrickville station for a few minutes. A Filipino couple passed by us. Rode the first iron giant to Central, then would switch to countrylink at the station. Central Station is a Victorian building criscrossed by the rail lines. It is modernity and the past intersecting at this hub of one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.
People bustling by to get to their destinations. It is a blur of life on the tracks of movement.
Had to get ahead of a queue to pay for my copy of the Sydney Morning Herald. Then took the train at platform 10 beside the news agency. Read through a bit of the paper. Suburban stations passed by - relativity theory in mind. Then the mobile phallus shot through the black hole of mountain tunnels, emerging to the green savour of the national parks and the sudden burst of the blue and golden incandescence of coastal and waterside towns on both sides. If there was a train line through the Visayas Islands and Mindanao, the view would be something nearly similar. Nature has a global facade.
There's this place, Hawkesbury River, where it looked like a line of earth was piled on the river to allow passage for the metal hulk. This was the Central Coast, about two hours fast drive north of Sydney.
---
Great nations were built on vast tracks of rail. Before the advent of airplanes, trains provided the transportation of products and people throughout great areas. It minimized transportation time that used to be carried on the backs of horses or pack animals, was cheaper, and helped greatly in communication and interchange of culture, the building of national identity and the broadening of perspectives. Conscious and enjoyable travel unfastens that.
---
There should be extended rail lines from Manila to the northern Luzon and eastern provinces. The rail network should also lead to the Visayas and Mindanao. From Luzon, one can come up with a line from Manila through Southern Tagalog then to Bicol, perhaps an underwater tunnel to Samar then a large aboveground bridge or underwater tunnel to Leyte and a submarine tunnel to Surigao and then to the rest of Mindanao. That's the eastern side. Alternatively, there could be a line from Manila to Batangas and a submarine tunnel to Mindoro. Diverging, there could be a line to Palawan from here. To continue, from the south of Mindoro, another tunnel to Panay Island, past Caticlan (which is where Boracay is), going through Iloilo, to Negros Island, with Dumaguete at the southern point of Visayas . Then it continues to Dapitan and the rest of Mindanao. Cebu could be connected from the east and west sides. The east from Leyte, and the west from Negros Island from Iloilo. Bohol can be connected through Cebu. A submarine connection could also be built from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro and the rest of Mindanao.
The setting up of such a railway network could do more for nation-building through the establishment of a tightened economic connection that easier transportation engenders. It paves the way to understanding and peace, if the underlying grievances are of course politically addressed. This is easier said than done. It requires stellar determination to launch such a grand infrastructure project, amidst the obstacles set up by debt, corruption and parochial lack of vision.
The RORO connection is an idea in the right direction, though there are problems on the road, and the program looks more like a PR job for Arroyo than a serious endeavour. Transportation is in the hands of the private sector, so fare is still in the domain of the market, which hinders movement for many people. Also, those ports Gloria named for her clan looks more like self-aggrandizement.
The building up of rail lines would also create another industry, not least in maintenance and the fostering of engineering. With the discovery of oil deposits near Palawan and in Mindanao, uranium ore in Ifugao, mineral deposits throughout the islands, plus the usual flora and fauna that could enrich not just industry but a whole way of life, there is a case that should be made for the building of the Philippine train. In this way, we also lay down the railroad to the Filipinos' liberation and opportunity.
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