CALUMPIT, Bulacan – The Philippine National Railways (PNR) is set to jumpstart preservation and restoration of the historic Calumpit train station this year, following the unveiling of a heritage marker by the Provincial History, Arts, Culture and Tourism Office (PHACTO).
PNR General Manager Deovanni Miranda commended the Provincial Government of Bulacan for installing the heritage marker, emphasizing its role in ensuring that the 134-year old Calumpit Station remains intact in its original location despite the ongoing construction of North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) System Project.
He assured the public that PNR would require the Korean contractor of NSCR in Malolos-Apalit segment of the NSCR, which passes through Calumpit, to install a steel frame to protect the historic structure, originally built in 1891.
PHACTO Officer-in-Charge May Arlene Torres said that this is the fourth heritage marker installed at former PNR train stations. Similar markers were unveiled in Meycauayan and Guiguinto in 2021, in Malolos in January 2025, and now in Calumpit, coinciding with the 453rd Foundation Anniversary.
This initiative is part of the SINEliksik Bulacan Project under the Shine Bulacan Program of the Provincial Government, in collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).
Calumpit Station was one of the stations built in 1891 by the then Manila Railroad Company (MRC) as part of the General Plan for Railroad in Luzon approved by a Royal Decree issued by Don Eduardo Lopez Navarro on June 26, 1875.
Trains passed through Calumpit as part of the 195-kilometer Manila-Dagupan line, originaly awarded as a concession to Don Edmundo Sykes on January 21, 1887, and later transferred to the Manila Railroad Company Ltd. of London, United Kingdom.
Torres recalled that the old Calumpit Station bore witness to the ‘Battle of Calumpit’ or ‘Battle of Bagbag’ during the Philippine-American War. From April 25-27, 1899, Philippine revolutionary forces under General Antonio Luna clashed with the United States Army under General Arthur MacArthur Jr.
During times of peace and economic prosperity, the station served as a key hub for sugarcane shipments from Central Luzon’s vast plantations.
The station began to deteriorate in 1988 when PNR suspended its north-line train operations.
Meanwhile, PNR General Manager Miranda expressed support for the Municipal Government of Calumpit’s proposal to preserve the old station by converting it into a local museum through adaptive reuse, as mandated by Republic Act 10066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act and the Republic Act 10086 or the Philippine History Act.
The old station will no longer funstion as a railway facility, as the new Calumpit station for the Malolos-Clark segment of the NSCR System Project has been relocated near the Angat River in Barangay Iba O’ Este. (MJSC/SFV, PIA Region 3-Bulacan)