Additional P7 billion budget needed for LRT-2 link to Port Area

MANILA, Philippines — Extending the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) to the Port Area would now cost P7 billion more as its construction is behind by more than half a decade, latest estimates from LRT-2 operator Light Rail Transit Authority showed.

The LRTA said it would now require at least P17 billion to build the LRT-2 West Extension Project.

When late president Benigno Aquino III approved it in 2015, the project was pegged at only P10.12 billion.

LRTA had planned on procuring the contractor for civil works in January 2020, but the government had to push this back to prioritize pandemic response. Since then, LRTA has failed to obtain funding from the national budget for the extension project.

It was only this year that LRTA was given P2 billion to deliver preliminary works and secure right of way. However, LRTA administrator Hernando Cabrera said the project has yet to receive capital for construction.

“No funding yet for actual construction. Our focus right now is on relocation of power and water utilities and informal settler families affected by the alignment. Latest costing [for the project] is around P17 billion,” Cabrera told The STAR.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) included the project in its expenditure plan for 2026 in hopes of finally kicking off its construction, according to Assistant Secretary Michelle de Vera.

“I confirmed with our rail team that the DOTr has submitted a budget request for the LRT-2 West Extension Project,” De Vera told The STAR.

The LRT-2 West Extension Project will extend the railway by three kilometers to the west of the Recto Station. It will add three stops to the line: Tutuban, Divisoria and Pier 4, in that order.

The project is crucial to addressing the interconnectivity gap in Metro Manila’s transit system by offering rail transport to North Harbor Pier 4. It will also bring commuters closer to the bargain districts of Divisoria and Tutuban, known for malls and shops that sell cheap items.

Apart from this, the LRT-2 West Extension Project covers the procurement of at least 20 light rail vehicles to boost the line’s capacity in ferrying passengers.

Once the extension is built, travel time between Recto and Pier 4 will be cut to just five minutes, while traveling from Antipolo to the Port Area will take less than an hour.

The LRT-2 West Extension Project is expected to add a daily ridership of 16,000 to the line that serves over 147,000 a day as of 2024.

Similarly, the LRTA is completing the feasibility study for a proposed extension to the east of LRT-2. The LRT-2 Cogeo Extension Project seeks to bring the railway to downtown Antipolo by adding three stops after the Antipolo Station.

The LRTA aims to wrap up the study this year so it can determine the volume of demand that the extension would bring. The study will also generate the final cost of building the project.

Overall, the DOTr is reviewing the costs of some of its big-ticket railways to consider the impact of delays and prepare supplementary funding.

The STAR earlier broke the story that the Metro Rail Transit Line 4 (MRT-4) now costs as much as P100 billion, from its initial estimate of P59.3 billion, due to design changes.

The DOTr scrapped its initial plan of designing the MRT-4 as a monorail, changing the project to a metro rail given the heavy volume of commuting demand in eastern metro.