THE Philippine National Railways yesterday said ZTE witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. was way off the track when he mentioned the PNR "in the same breath as the NBN-ZTE deal."

PNR general manager Jose Ma. Sarasola II said that Lozada claimed to have attended only one meeting involving the South Railway project and yet came to the conclusion that the deal was also attended with corruption.

Lozada claimed the project was overpriced by 22 percent for the benefit of some Palace officials.

Sarasola said Lozada referred to a feasibility for the Calamba to Sorsogon line which was not even submitted in full to the National Economic and Development Authority.

He said what the NEDA reviewed and approved was the Calamba to Lucena portion, a distance of 77 kilometers, which has yet to be funded.

"The project has gone through proper diligence. Its implementation has not been started as the funding arrangements have not yet even been finalized, and here he is implying that there is something anomalous in the project. His statement during the hearing boggles the imagination," Sarasola said.

"Cost-wise, this project is most beneficial to the government and will save a lot of travel time and expense for the commuting public," Sarasola said. "So I really don’t know where Mr. Lozada is coming from when he mentioned this project during the Senate hearing on the ZTE-NBN inquiry."

The PNR website said the Southrail project will be implemented in two phases with Phase 1 covering the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the existing 423-km railway line from Calamba to Legazpi City and Phase 2 covering the construction of a new 135-kilometer railway from Camalig, Albay to Matnog, Sorsogon.

The project’s estimated total cost is $932.037 million or $627.811 million for Phase 1 and $304.226 million for the Phase 2. The NEDA China’s Ministry of Commerce signed a memorandum of understanding for the 542 kilometer Southrail project in July 2007.