Paco railway station

 Paco 
Philippine National Railways

Facade of the station.
Location Quirino Avenue cor. Pedro Gil Street
Paco, Manila
Owned by Philippine National Railways
Line(s)   PNR Southrail, Cavite line (defunct)
Platforms Side platforms
Tracks 2
Construction
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code PC
History
Opened 1908, 1915 (building)
Rebuilt 2009
Services
Preceding station   PNR   Following station
toward Tutuban
Metro Commuter
toward Calamba
PNR Metro Commuter
Legend
 South Commuter Line 
Tutuban
Blumentritt  LRT1 
Laong Laan
España
Santa Mesa  LRT2 
Pasig River
Pandacan
Paco
San Andres
Vito Cruz

Manila
Makati
Buendia
Pasay Road
EDSA  MRT3 

Makati
Taguig
Nichols Ninoy Aquino International Airport
FTI

Taguig
Parañaque
Bicutan

Parañaque
Muntinlupa
Sucat
Alabang
Muntinlupa

Muntinlupa
San Pedro
San Pedro
Pacita MG

San Pedro
Biñan
Golden City 1
Biñan

Biñan
Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa
Cabuyao
Cabuyao
Mamatid

Cabuyao
Calamba
Calamba
Platform area of Paco station

Paco is a station on the Southrail line of the Philippine National Railways. It serves Paco in Manila, Metro Manila. This is also the last station beside Quirino Avenue before turning left towards Pres. Sergio Osmeña Highway (formerly South Superhighway).

It was originally built across Plaza Dilao in 1915, which was during the American colonial period. The old station, however, was partly demolished in 1996 by a developer that begun constructing a shopping mall next to it.[1] The demolition was not completed due to the cancellation of the mall construction, leaving the facade intact up to now. In 2009, the old station was replaced with a new station at the corner of Quirino Avenue and Pedro Gil Street. In 2015, the Department of Transportation and Communications mulls the planned restoration and conservation of the old Paco railway station building.[2] Heritage advocates including the Heritage Conservation Society welcomed the development.

San Andres station in San Andres Bukid in Manila follows this station. Paco is preceded by Pandacan. There are also LRT-1 stations that exist not very far from the station, which are Pedro Gil and Quirino. It will require a commute from this station to get to those LRT stations.

Nearby landmarks

The station is near Plaza Dilao, Paco Market, San Fernando de Dilao Church, Paco Catholic School and Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion de la Concordia.

History

General Information

The Manila Belt Line from Santa Mesa to Paco and the segment of the defunct Cavite line to Binakayan was opened in March 25, 1908.

Construction of the station started in 1912 and was completed by 1915.[3]

Second World War

In the bid to reclaim Manila from the Japanese during World War II, Paco became a bloody battleground for hundreds of lives. On Feb. 7, 1945, the US 149th Infantry Regiment crossed Pasig River and landed in the suburbs of Pandacan and Paco, where an epic battle took place around the railway station with some 300 Japanese defending it; it was the “first of the urban strong points” the Allied forces encountered. According to an account, “Japanese [fighters] had machine gun posts all around the [railroad] station, and foxholes with riflemen surrounded each machine gun post. Inside at each corner were sandbag forts with 20mm guns. One large concrete pillbox in the building housed a 37mm gun.” Over a two-day period, the friendly forces won the encounter but it cost 335 American lives before the resistance was finally smashed and the enemies annihilated. The battle of Paco produced two Medal of Honor awardees, both members of the U.S. Company B, 148th Infantry, 37th Infantry Division which, along with the 149th Infantry Regiment, had the primary mission to attack Pandacan and Paco. The heroes of Paco were Technical Sergeant Cleto L. Rodriguez, of Mexican descent, and Private First Class John N. Reese, Jr., an American Indian.[4]

Station Layout

L1
Platforms
Side platform, doors will open on the right
Platform A PNR Metro Commuter towards Tutuban (←)
Platform B PNR Metro Commuter towards Alabang (→)
Side platform, doors will open on the right
L1 Concourse/
Street Level
Ticket Booths, Station Control, Shops,Plaza Dilao, Paco Market, San Fernando de Dilao Church, Paco Catholic School, Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion de la Concordia

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.