MANILA, November 10 ------ Here's a bit of good news for commuters in the Southern part of Metro Manila, five stations of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension are set to open later this month, the Department of Transportation said.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the five stations make up Phase 1 of the project. These are:
- Redemptorist Station
- MIA Station
- Asia World (PITX) Station
- Ninoy Aquino Station
- Dr. Santos (Sucat) Station
"And we will open this line within the next maybe two to three weeks. This is within November. This will be the first railway project to be completed within the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr." Bautista said during a press briefing.
Light Rail Manila Corp, the private operator of the LRT-1, said the five new stations extend the railway's alignment by another 6 kilometers, making it 26 kilometers in total. "This will allow people to traverse the alignment within a span of less than an hour," said LRMC President and CEO Enrico Benipayo.
The LRT-1 currently runs from FPJ Station (formerly Roosevelt) in Quezon City to Baclaran Station in Pasay. Benipayo said the new stations are expected to boost the ridership of the country's first mass transit system by 80,000 daily. The LRT-1 ferries around 320,000 passengers daily. The new stations are expected to bump this up to 400,000 daily, but LRMC said they also expect to further increase this to around 650,000 by 2028 or 2029. Benipayo added that this will benefit the economies of the surrounding areas. 'We cannot give you an estimate yet of how much more or less is the economic benefit. But one thing for sure is that the travel time will be reduced. Easily, this can be reduced by 30 minutes from Baclaran to Santos Avenue," Benipayo said.
Phase 2 of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension project will be the opening of the Las Piñas and Zapote Stations, with Phase 3 being the Niog Station in Bacoor, Cavite. The government has not yet announced a timeline for the opening of these stations.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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