The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced on Thursday that it will open three public transportation routes amid the upcoming temporary closure of selected Philippine National Railways (PNR) stations.

According to LTFRB, the three routes are FTI-Divisoria via East Service Road for public buses, Alabang (Starmall) – Divisoria via the Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEX), and Malabon-Divisoria.

At least 30 units of public buses are expected to take the FTI-Divisoria route, 25 units of public buses in Alabang-Divisoria route, and 5 units of Modern Public Utility Jeepney (MPUJ) for Malabon-Divisoria route.

Public buses flying in the new routes will still follow the existing fare matrix approved by the LTFRB board, the agency noted.

“Batay rin sa memorandum, ang pagpili ng mga operator na maaaring pumasada sa mga bubuksang ruta ay alinsunod sa Memorandum Circular No. 2019-013 o ang “Consolidated Guidelines on the Process of Issuance of Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) and Provisional Authority (PA)/Special Permit (SP) Under the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines and Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP)," LTFRB said.

“Nakasaad din sa memorandum na ang rehistro ng mga pampublikong sasakyan na awtorisadong bumiyahe sa mga bubuksang ruta ay hindi dapat lumagpas ng limang (5) taon, batay sa Certificate of Registration nito sa Land Transportation Office (LTO),” it added.

The PNR earlier announced that it will suspend its daily trips on the Alabang to Calamba route starting July 2 to give way for the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) system.

The said construction is expected to last for five years, and the LTFRB estimated that about 30,000 PNR passengers will be affected.