The Philippine National Railways (PNR) (Filipino: Pambansang Daang-bakal ng Pilipinas; Spanish: Ferrocarril Nacional de Filipinas) is a state-owned railway company in the Philippines which operates one commuter rail service between Laguna and Quezon, and local services between Sipocot, Naga and Legazpi in the Bicol Region. It is an attached agency of the Department of Transportation, formerly known as the Ferrocaril Manila-Dagupan Line, and less well-known Manila Railroad (MRR).

Philippine National Railways traces its roots to the Ferrocarril de Manila-Dagupan, founded on November 24, 1892 during the Spanish colonial period, and later becoming the Manila Railroad Company (MRR) during the American colonial period. Founded on June 20, 1964, by virtue of Republic Act No. 4156, the PNR used to operate over 1,100 km (684 mi) of route from La Union to the Bicol Region. However, neglect reduced the railway's service, and persistent problems with informal settlers in the 1990s and natural disasters in the 2000s contributed further to its decline. The government is currently in the process of reinvesting in the railway through numerous projects set to revive defunct lines and create new ones.

The origins of the Philippine National Railways can be traced to Edmund Sykes's concession, the Manila Railway Company, Limited. Sykes was granted concession rights by the Spanish government to construct a rail line from Manila to Dagupan on June 1, 1887. The line opened as the Ferrocarril de Manila a Dagupan on November 24, 1892, and the Manila Railway Company was formally incorporated in Manila and London. The Ferrocarril de Manila a Dagupan would eventually become the North Main Line, while services to Southern Luzon under the South Main Line would be completed by 1937.

The Manila Railway was later renamed the Manila Railroad Company in 1906 and became a state-owned enterprise in 1916. By 1923, the MRR elected José Paez as its first Filipino general manager. By 1939, the MRR had 1,140 kilometers (710 mi) of track throughout Luzon. However, the MRR's network and fleet was destroyed during World War II. With most of the railroads rebuilt by the 1950s, the MRR initiated its transition from steam to diesel power. Flagship services with steam ended on August 12, 1956, while regular services ended in 1963. Not long after, the Manila Railroad was reorganized into the Philippine National Railways.

The Philippine National Railways was created in 1964 through the Republic Act 4156 during the presidency of Diosdado Macapagal. According to the PNR's website, the agency experienced its heyday during its early years in the 1960s and early 1970s, as it served thousands of daily riders in its system and had an expansive commuter rail network in and out of Metro Manila.

The PNR later suffered from a multitude of reasons which contributed to its decline, including natural disasters and a lack of support from the government. Government funding during the 1970s were shifted to road-based infrastructure such as highways. On July 23, 1979, President Ferdinand Marcos issued Executive Order No. 546, which designated the Philippine National Railways as an attached agency of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, now the Department of Transportation (DOTr). However, it did not prevent the agency from suffering heavy losses. In 1983, underfunding has resulted in more cutting of services and the layoff of 1,000 employees which resulted in protests the following year.

The decline of the railway became evident as sections of North Main Line closed in stages. In 1984, services were cut short to Paniqui, Tarlac due to a bridge collapse. Services were then again cut short to Caloocan in 1988 during the term of President Corazon Aquino. However, commuter services were briefly extended to Malolos starting in 1990 under the Metrotren project and later closed in 1997. When Fidel V. Ramos succeeded Aquino, he decided to rehabilitate the South Main Line from Tutuban to Legaspi, and appointed Jose B. Dado as the new PNR general manager. A railway system running from Manila to Clark was also set to be constructed in the 1990s, when Ramos signed a memorandum of agreement with Juan Carlos I of Spain for its construction in September 1994. Another project, called the Manila–Calabarzon Express, sought to rehabilitate the south commuter line in Manila and construct spur lines. However, the two projects were not implemented, with the Clark railway project cancelled due to disagreement on the source of funding.

The government under the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo actively pursued the rehabilitation of the Philippine National Railways through various investments and projects designed to revive Philippine rail transport, despite the numerous problems involved. This encompassed three major projects: Northrail, Southrail, and the Northrail–Southrail Linkage, which was designed to connect the two systems. The 320-kilometer (200-mile) Northrail project aimed to revive the North Main Line from Caloocan to San Fernando, La Union. The initial phase involved the upgrading of the existing single track to an elevated dual-track system, converting the rail gauge from narrow gauge to standard gauge, and linking Manila to Malolos in Bulacan and further on to Angeles City, Clark Special Economic Zone, Clark International Airport. Although the project was under the North Luzon Railways Corporation (NLRC), the Northrail project aimed to utilize the existing right of way of the North Main Line for most of its route. The Southrail project, conceptualized when the PNR and Daewoo conducted a feasibility study, involved the rehabilitation of the entire South Main Line from Calamba to Lucena, and later to Legazpi, Albay, with a new extension to Matnog. The linkage project aimed to connect the two, and ensure compatibility of the signaling and communication systems of the two lines while retaining the rail gauge as narrow gauge despite the planned gauge conversion.