Without much fanfare, Mike Defensor last week inaugurated with the President and other government officials a rehabilitated railway system that promises to decongest the nearly choked up traffic in Metro Manila.

Not even a year after becoming chairman of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Corporation, Mike has achieved what a succession of former PNR officials have surprisingly failed to do: resuscitate a vital transport system that heretofore was doomed to atrophy its way to our history books.

Indeed, tales about the train’s glory days, when even a Philippine president was able to ride one of its coaches, has entered the anecdotes of a better bygone Manila era, much like a clean Pasig River. But unlike the Pasig River, the rehabilitation of which could take a generation or more, the PNR train system looks more promising.

New air-conditioned coaches are now operating from downtown Manila’s Tutuban in Divisoria to Buendia in Makati City. In a few weeks, operations are set to cover the stretch of Caloocan to Sucat and eventually until Alabang. The PNR has also set its sights on reviving the Manila-Bicol route before yearend.

The resuscitation of the railway system is testament to Mike’s ability to get things done in contrast to accusations of him being a traditional politician. Filipinos should let his actions, more than his image in mainstream media, speak for what kind of leader he really is.

Indeed, unlike other government appointees who mostly only go through the motions of doing their jobs, Mike has been known to take every opportunity of public service to heart. Politics aside, his stint in the government has always been nothing short of commendable, from implementing the total log ban as DENR secretary to finally launching the much delayed opening of the country’s international airport terminal as NAIA 3 task force chief.

Proving his mettle yet again, he has now taken on the reins of PNR as the man with the will to get the derailed transport system back on track. The new railway system has 18 new coaches from Korea, but Mike has commissioned a local jeepney manufacturing company, Santarosa, to refurbish 30 more rusty coaches. This translates to about P2.84 billion in savings! To note, such savings did not come at the expense of the quality of the coaches, the interiors of which can be likened to luxury buses replete with no less than LCD TVs.

To sustain the project, Mike has also reached out to investors like, SM Corp. and S.T. Best Inc. to later take over the train stations and build station malls. Lacosta Development has also been tapped for a fiber-optic project on the right of way of PNR, whereas the Industrial Heritage Society of the Philippines was tasked to build a museum at the old Paco station for extra revenue.

Despite the large investment to salvage the aged railway system, Mike has been keen on making the revived route accessible to the general public. Fares start at P12 and a 30-minute ride from central Manila to the Makati business district only costs P16.

Mike has said the long-term goal is to develop a railway system like in New York and in Rome. And while the this can be easily dismissed as a long-shot, we only have to look at countries in Europe and neighboring Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and even relatively poor ones like India to know the significance of this project to our nation. In all of these countries, a railway system remains the main means of long-distance public land transportation that cuts down on much resources and promotes efficiency. Indeed, Mike sees the PNR being eventually linked to MRT and LRT lines that would make traversing all over the metropolis via commuter trains possible.

Who knows a world class train transport system just might be within our reach?—i.e. if Mike remains in the thick of things.