LRT1 operator says Cavite extension works to start mid-2018

Construction of the P64-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1) extension from Baclaran in Parañaque City to Bacoor, Cavite is targeted to commence sometime in the middle of 2018, operator Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) said Thursday.

In May 2017, LRMC and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) broke ground for the LRT1 Cavite extension project.

“Our guess right now? I think we want the actual construction to start by the middle of this year,” LRMC president and CEO Juan Alfonso told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in Makati City.

Clear the actual path for the construction and addressing right-of-way issues are taking more time, Alfonso noted. “We still have things that we’re trying to iron out in our right or way,” he said.

“It’s really clearing the path for actual construction, whether its residence or utility lines,” he added.

LRMC and French engineering, procurement, construction contractor Bouyges Travaux Publics are now about to enter the “detailed design phase” of the project.

LRT1 Cavite extension is a government and private sector initiative to extend the mass rail system’s reach by adding eight stations straddling 11 kilometers through cities of Parañaque, Las Piñas, and Bacoor.

The new stations are Aseana, Manila International Airport, Asia World, Ninoy Aquino, and Dr. Santos in Parañaque City; Las Piñas and Zapote in Las Piñas City, and Niog in Bacoor.

To be completed in the last quarter of 2021, the extension is expected to accommodate 410,000 passengers a day in its opening year. —VDS, GMA News