Tutuban station, also known as the Manila station or Divisoria station is the main train station of the Philippine National Railways located in the City of Manila, Philippines. The name refers to two stations: the original Tutuban station, which today forms part of Tutuban Center, and the PNR Executive Building, which houses PNR offices and serves as the current terminus of all PNR services.
History
As part of the "Ferrocarril de Manila-Dagupan" or Manila-Dagupan Line, which constitutes much of the NorthMain Line today. The cornerstone of the main station building at Tutuban was laid on 31 July 1887. The railway was 195 kilometers long at the time of its opening on November 24, 1892, running from Manila to Dagupan City in Pangasinan. The Manila Railroad Company was changed to the corporate name Philippine National Railways due to the enactment of the Republic Act No. 4156. In 1988, PNR evaluated the possibility of renting 22 hectares of land to Tutuban at Claro M. Recto in response to the challenges of development and help promote the site to be the center of trade. PNR implemented the first part of the master development plan of Tutuban Properties, Inc. in 1991, and later entrusted the management and development of the land. The Tutuban Center Mall was formally inaugurated to the public led by President Fidel V. Ramos on February 21, 1994. The following years has witnessed the continued efforts among PNR, Tutuban Properties, Inc. and the Philippine Government to advance the methods of travel by reorganizing the overall railroad system, improve the civic and business buildings around the Tutuban, and keep emphasis on history. The development of PNR Plaza is a step to verify the cause of reactivating the overall railroad system as one method of travel and trading. The Tutuban Station Executive Building was inaugurated on May 30, 1996. The Tutuban station will be renovated to become more transit-oriented and a newer station will be built for the North–South Commuter Railway while the 1996 station will serve only the Manila-Legazpi long-haul provincial services if revived. According to a presentation by JICA in 2019, the old station building nicknamed the "Heritage Building" will be once more included to a transport-oriented mixed-development zone. Therefore, the Tutuban Center Mall that sits on the area of the station will be removed. It will also connect to the Line 2 west extension project for easier commuting.
