DOTr Says LRT-1 Extension to Cavite Will Start Construction in April
The long-delayed construction of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) extension from Metro Manila to Cavite province may finally start in April, according to the latest update of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
“This April, finally, what we call ‘actual works’ for the extension of the LRT-1 to Cavite will start,” DOTR Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said in a radio interview on DZBB on Monday, March 4.
While the project was awarded by the Aquino administration way back in 2014 to the proponent, Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), the construction has been pushed back multiple times due to right-of-way issues.
The LRMC is a consortium of Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings. It won the bidding to undertake the public-private partnership (PPP) project at the cost of P65 billion.
According to the Public-Private Partnership Center website, the LRT-1 Cavite extension involves the construction of an 11.7-kilometer railway, 10.5 km of which will be elevated. The existing Baclaran Station will be extended to Bacoor, Cavite with the last stop at Niyog Station. A total of eight stations will be added to the extension project starting from the Aseana business district in Pasay City.
In previous interviews, LRMC President and CEO Juan Alfonso said the project may cut travel time between Baclaran in Parañaque City to Bacoor in Cavite to only 30 minutes from the usual one and a half hour land travel during rush hour.
Around 410,000 passengers are expected to benefit from the project every day in its opening year. According to DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, target completion of the project is either by the last quarter of 2021 or by 2022.
The news comes a week after the DOTr broke ground on the similarly much-awaited Metro Manila Subway project. The first three stations of the project are also expected to be completed in 2022.
