Building of LRT-1 Cavite extension to start May 6

April 23, 2019 | 11:19 pm [ bworldonline.com ]

PHILSTAR

THE EXTENSION of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) to Cavite will start construction in early May, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said Tuesday.

“We’ll have a ceremony on May 6 to signal the start of actual works of LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension Project. We’ll update you on its details in the coming days,” an officer from the DoTr communications department said in a mobile message to reporters.

LRT-1 operator Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) confirmed the information in a text message to BusinessWorld.

“Confirmed. We have a media event on May 6 to launch the start of works, yes,” LRMC Corporate Communication Head Rochelle A. Gamboa said.

LRMC is building an 11.7-kilometer extension of LRT-1 from Baclaran, Parañaque City to Bacoor, Cavite. The added segment to the train line will consist of eight stations: Redemptorist, NAIA Avenue, Asia World, Ninoy Aquino, Dr. Santos, Las Piñas, Zapote and Niog.

The construction is scheduled to run until the fourth quarter of 2021. Once the Cavite extension is operational, it is expected to increase passenger traffic at LRT-1 to 800,000 daily passengers from 300,000 at present.

LRMC is a joint venture of Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp. and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd. The company won the P65-billion, 32-year contract to operate LRT-1 in 2015, part of which is the construction of its Cavite extension.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is one of three Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group. — Denise A. Valdez

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