By Darryl John Esguerra | Philippine News Agency
The LRT-1 Cavite Extension Phase 1 will start commercial operations this November, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced Thursday.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the new LRT-1 segment will be opened in the coming weeks.
“We hope that this opening of the extension of LRT-1 will help alleviate traffic as it will be able to support thousands of passengers. This will be our early Christmas gift to the residents of the area,” Bautista said in a Palace press briefing
With the opening of Phase 1, some six kilometers will be added to the transit line, connecting Baclaran Station in Pasay City to Dr. Santos (formerly Sucat) Station in Parañaque City.
The new segment will feature five new stations under Phase 1, including Redemptorist—Aseana Station, MIA Road Station, PITX Station, Ninoy Aquino Avenue Station, and Dr. Santos Station.
With this, travel time from Quezon City to Paranaque City will now be reduced to less than an hour, Light Rail Manila Corp. president and chief executive officer Enrico Benipayo said.
Once Phase 1 is operational, the extended LRT-1 is projected to add around 80,000 passengers daily during the first year of operations.
Average ridership of LRT-1 now is around 320,000 daily.
The second phase of LRT 1 Cavite extension consists of Las Piñas station and Zapote station, while the third and last phase is the Niog station.