LRT 1 extension project set to start

Rail service firm Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) is set to begin construction of the 11.6-kilometer Light Railway Transit (LRT) 1 line extension to Cavite this year, with a commitment to partially operate before the end of President Duterte’s term in 2022.

The partial operation will cover 6.6 km of the south-bound railway extension plan, which will bring commuters to Sucat, LRMC president and CEO Juan Alfonso said in a recent briefing.

Once the full extension program is completed, travel time from Bacoor to Baclaran will be 25 to 30 minutes.

“Some commuters (at present) spend two hours on the road because of the traffic in the morning. So we give them some option to take the train and have more time for their families and (have) better quality of life,” he said.

Upon full operation, the LRT 1 extension will extend the railway system to Niog, Cavite, adding eight stations south of Metro Manila.

“We started with the geotechnical investigation (GI) for the Cavite extension on April 1. We have a total of 12 sites that we’re looking at,” Alfonso said.

GI is a requisite for LMRC—which is backed by the consortium of Metro Pacific and Ayala—to start the continuous construction and finalize the structural plans for the project.

LRMC and the Department of Transportation will mark the start of construction in the next few days. They will also jointly unveil the prototype of the fourth generation of trains that will be used by the system. The body of this Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica)-funded new-generation rolling stock is manufactured by CAF of Spain and the propulsion by Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan.

The 30 next-generation trains will de delivered to LRMC in batches starting 2020. They will be used together with older trains, including those that were reengineered to have brand-new propulsions.