Paco station

Early history

Paco station was established on March 25, 1908, as a station serving the Manila Belt Line (from Tutuban to Paco) and the now-defunct Cavite Line (then from Paco to Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite). The railroad towards Muntinlupa, then in Rizal, was later inaugurated on June 21, 1908. Construction of the station, which faced Plaza Dilao, began in 1912 and was completed by 1915. What would become the old station building was designed by William E. Parsons, a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts and the Consulting Architect of the Bureau of Public Works at that time. The Belt Line later gave way to the Manila Railroad's Main Line South in the 1910s.

During the Battle of Manila on February 7, 1945, the United States Army 148th Infantry Regiment crossed the Pasig River from the north and landed in the suburbs of Pandacan and Paco with the Filipino troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army. A battle took place around the station with some 300 Imperial Japanese Army defending it.

Contemporary history

The old station fell into disuse in the years following the war. The station was partially demolished in 1996 to make way for a shopping mall in the area. A new station was also built to the southwest as part of PNR's reconstruction in 2009 due to the old station building being unusable.

The Department of Transportation and Communications started plans to restore and conserve the old station building in 2015. Heritage advocates including the Heritage Conservation Society welcomed the development. As of July 2020, the new Paco station shall be built beside the old one with a buffer zone, similar to Seoul Station in South Korea.

On March 28, 2024, station operations were temporarily suspended to make way for the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR). The newer platform area was demolished as the station will be repurposed as an elevated station.

According to rendered images of the NSCR, freight tracks belonging to the PNR South Long Haul's northward extension to the Port of Manila will pass through the bottom of the NSCR station and behind the original building.

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. Plaza Dilao is also where the statue dedicated to Blessed Dom Justo Takayama stands. Skyway Stage 3 passes by the old and new stations.