Panay Railways

In December 1905, a syndicate composed of William Salomon and Company, International Banking Corporation, Heidelbach, Ickelheimer and Company, Cornelius Vanderbilt III, Charles M. Swift, H. R. Wilson, and J. G. White and Company was the sole bidder for the right to construct railroads on Cebu, Panay and Negros.[6] In 1906, the syndicate was awarded the concession and the Philippine Railway Company Inc. was incorporated in the state of Connecticut, United States on March 5, 1906

.[3] On May 28, 1906, the Philippine government formally passed an act granting the company the concession.[6][7]

The company became part of a "Manila syndicate", a collection of Philippine infrastructure companies including the Manila Electric Railway and Light Company, the Manila Construction Company, and the Manila Suburban Railways Company.[8] Later the Philippine Railways Construction Company was added.[8]

Construction began on a railroad from Iloilo City to Roxas City in Capiz with crews working from both cities and meeting in the middle in 1907.[3] Crews working from the north and south met at the railway track's highest elevation in a flag stop near Passi's border with Dumarao, later called Summit. Operations began immediately upon completion.[3]

In 1937, after three decades of operations, the railroad had not yet earned a profit.[9]

In 1939, three individuals were convicted in a fraud scheme involving bonds from the then Philippine Railway Company. In 1937, bonds in the "sick, sugary-hauling road" were selling for about US$11 and were about to mature apparently worthless.[10] The price of the bonds then rose rapidly to $31 a share because of rumors that the Philippine Commonwealth would buy them for $65.[10] Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon denied the rumor and the bonds crashed.[10] The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation and William P. Buckner Jr. and William J. Gillespie, members of the bondholders protective committee, were convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy.[10] Also convicted of a lesser charge was Filipino Felipe Abreu Buencamino, whip of the Philippine Assembly and confidant of President Quezon, who allegedly received $50,000 (equivalent to $889,236 in 2019) to cooperate with the plan.[10]

In 1985, passenger operations ceased while in 1989 freight operations ceased.[11]

The original route was 117 kilometers (73 mi) long, included 19 permanent and 10 flag stations and connected the then-towns of La Paz, Jaro, Pavia, Santa Barbara, New Lucena, Pototan, Dingle, Dueñas and Passi in Iloilo and Dumarao, Dao, Panitan, Cuartero and Loctugan in Capiz.[3] It reached Roxas City. It had a total of 46 bridges.[11] In Iloilo City, the trains ended at passenger terminal along the wharf next to the Customs House and near where the current fast ferry terminal and the Iloilo City Hall.[12] Trains ran across Drilon Bridge from La Paz and down the bank of the Iloilo River to Muelle Loney in the Port of Iloilo.[11][13] In the 1980s, a 12-kilometer spur was constructed from Duenas to Calinog, Iloilo to serve a sugar refinery in Iloilo. Operations ceased in 1983.[3]

The Panay Line in 1917

Fidel V. Ramos, who would eventually become President of the Philippines, was vice chairman of the Philvidec Railway, Inc.

Since ceasing operations, the company has continued to exist and periodically announces plans to rebuild the railway,[1] either along the original route or with a change to include a connection to the Iloilo International Airport. Some plans include a second phase to extend the line from Roxas City to the Caticlan port, from where ferries to the resort island of Boracay depart.[1] As of 2014, the Philippine national government was opposed to any rebuilding of the line because it is expensive and not economically viable.[14]

On March 3, 2005, the demolition of 44 of 46 bridges was begun.[11] The bridge in Passi City was spared because of its historical value as an execution site of Philippine guerrillas by Japanese occupation forces during World War II.[11] The Drilon Bridge was also excluded as it had been donated to Iloilo City.[11] The demolition of the bridges was done as the first part of a planned rebuilding of the rail line.[11] The rebuilding has not taken place. In 2015, the mayor of Iloilo, Jed Patrick E. Mabilog, said "We’re talking with the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) Center about connecting Iloilo to the rest of the island of Panay by rail."[15]

Like many railroads, Panay Railways owns property. The railroad right-of-way stretching from Iloilo City to Roxas is 30 meters wide.[16] Further, it owns lands used for stations, terminals and rail yards. It currently leases its property to landless households (among others) from which it derives revenue to defray the personnel and administrative costs of looking after its assets.[2] As of 2012, they had more than 4,000 lessees, all of which are only allowed to build buildings of light materials and must vacate the property if needed to reestablish the railroad.[17] In April 2014, the city government of Iloilo City agreed to purchase a 2,000 sq m lot, located along Muelle Loney near the Iloilo City Hall, owned Panay Railways for 24,446,250 Philippine pesos.[14] The statue of Nicholas Loney that stands on the lot will not be moved but the Bureau of Fire Protection station also on the lot might be.[14] This lot used to be a location of a terminal of the rail line.[14]

The Philippine Railway Company, along with operating the Panay line, operated a line in Cebu for about 30 years from 1911 to 1942, when operations ceased because of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II.[2] The line ran from Argao in the south, through Cebu City, then to Danao in the north.[18] The line was built by the related Philippine Railways Construction Company.[19]

Central Station was at the corner of Leon Kilat and P. Del Rosario streets.[19] There was a short spur from there to the port.[19] From Argao (where the station is now the town's fire station), the tracks went north and ran to Sab-ang, Sibonga (the station is now a library of Simala Elementary School); Valladolid, Carcar (the station is now a restaurant); Cebu City; then ending at Sitio Estasyonan, Danao, with the sitio's name from "station".[19] The Rotunda in the poblacion of Danao was where the train would turn around, giving the place its name.[19]

During World War II, the bridges, tracks and Central Station were all struck by bombs with damage so extensive that the railway never recovered. The Cebu line was a historic and groundbreaking rail that heritage advocates have been pushing for its reconstruction since the late 1970s up to the 21st century.[19]

• 
  This engine on display at Plaza Libertad, Iloilo City which was not owned by Panay Railways but from the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company.
• 
  Remains of tracks in Pavia, Iloilo, 2012

• Philippine National Railways
• Rail transportation in the Philippines
• Sugar industry of the Philippines

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Panay Railways.

• Photos of Panay Railways in the 1980s from Flickriver
• Panay Railway articles and photos from the Philippine Railway Historical Society
• More Panay Railway photos from Flickr
• History and maps of the three Philippine railroads from an amateur historian
• Video on YouTube Video of photos from the Cebu rail line

A few pages from one railfan site with photos, maps and more information:

• http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~Philrail/siraipanai.htm – photos of Panay Railways, in Japanese
• http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~Philrail/panayrail.htm – photos from 2002 of Panay Railways including bridges, in Japanese
• http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~Philrail/panay_2004.htm – map and photos of Panay Railways line through Iloilo City, including along Muelle Loney, in Japanese
• http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~Philrail/Philippines_r_cebu.htm – map and photos showing Cebu rail line, in Japanese