Successful FAT for NSCR Philippines – Master Clock & Time Server System
In Week 33 of 2025, another important milestone was reached with the successful Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) of the Time Server and Master Clock System (MCS) for the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Project – Philippines. The FAT was conducted at Moser-Baer AG (MOBATIME Swiss Time Systems) in Sumiswald, Switzerland, with participation from the project stakeholders.
Key Stakeholders of this FAT
- End Client: Department of Transportation (DOTr), Republic of the Philippines
- General Consultant / Engineer: Oriental Consultants Global / NSCR Consultant Team
- Contractor: Mitsubishi Corporation – Colas Rail Joint Venture (MCJV), under the Alstom-led consortium awarded the integrated railway system contract by Mitsubishi Corporation
- System Supplier: MOBATIME Swiss Time Systems (Moser-Baer AG)
FAT Highlights
The FAT was conducted according to the approved procedure and included:
- Inspection of hardware components – Grandmaster, Station Master Clocks, Digital and Analogue Clocks
- Software and functionality testing – accuracy, synchronization, alarm functions, holdover performance
- Network and protocol compliance – validation of NTP, PTP (IEEE 1588), and SNMP
- Redundancy and failover tests to ensure uninterrupted operation
Ensuring Reliable Operations
The delegation from the Philippines, alongside MOBATIME engineers, verified the system’s compliance with the stringent requirements of the NSCR project. The tests confirmed the system’s readiness to provide precise, reliable, and redundant time synchronization for all subsystems across the railway.
The successful FAT marks a major milestone in delivering a safe, modern, and efficient commuter railway system for the Philippines. It also highlights the strong collaboration between DOTr, Mitsubishi Corporation, the Alstom-Colas consortium, and MOBATIME, supporting the ongoing transformation of public transportation infrastructure across the region.
NSCR – Stations Diagram
Here’s a simplified schematic of the North-South Commuter Railway alignment:
