All the Light Rail we can see
The Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT-1) Cavite Extension Project will increase the total number of LRT-1 stations from 20 to 28, covering several major cities including Quezon City, Caloocan, Manila, Pasay, and Parañaque, all the way to Bacoor, Cavite. It will add 11 kilometers to the existing railway system and is expected to service up to 800,000 passengers per day. It is also expected to increase and enhance commercial development around the rail stations.
Commuters can expect comfortable, reliable, and modern integrated transport riding the LRT-1 because travel time from Pasay City to Cavite will be cut down from an hour and a half to just 25 to 30 minutes.
The LRT-1 is Metro Manila’s ISO-certified train system that is being operated and maintained by Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), a joint venture company of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp. (MPLRC), Ayala Corp.’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. (AC Infra), Sumitomo Corp., and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Investments Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd. (MIHPL).
LRMC assumed operations and maintenance of LRT-1 in September 2015 through a P65-billion, 32-year concession agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA).
On Oct. 12, 2014, LRMC signed a Concession Agreement with the DOTr and LRTA for the P65-billion LRT 1 Cavite Extension, Operation & Maintenance Project which is part of the 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan to accelerate infrastructure.
LRMC is working with Bouygues Travaux Publics as the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor for this much-anticipated LRT-1 extension. A global player in construction operating in more than 80 countries from five continents, Bouygues Travaux Publics is an expert in large-scale projects involving tunnels, engineering structures, as well as road, port and rail infrastructure.
Just recently, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) led the inauguration of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project Phase 1. This is the first railway project that will be completed under his administration.
Phase 1 of the project consists of five stations running from the existing Baclaran Station, namely: Redemptorist Station; MIA Station; Asia World (PITX) Station; Ninoy Aquino Station; and Dr. Santos (Sucat) Station.
Phase 2 of the project will be the opening of the Las Piñas and Zapote stations, while Phase 3 will be the Niog station in Bacoor, Cavite.
Phase 1 is now operational (it started the day after the inauguration), while no timeline has yet been set for Phase 2 and 3.
In his speech, President Marcos acknowledged his father, the late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., for initiating the construction of Metro Manila’s first urban rail transit system. This initial endeavor ultimately grew into the larger rail transit system that serves the National Capital Region, including the LRT-1 Cavite Extension.
“On this day, no one is happier than his son in seeing that his father’s foresight is being validated by another work that expands mass transit that he had built for the people that he loved,” the President said.
The President also expressed appreciation for his predecessors, acknowledging their efforts in advancing the project.
“The L-1-CE Project has been a long time in the making — spanning five administrations, starting with President Estrada, to President Arroyo, President Aquino, President Duterte, and now, to mine,” President Marcos said. “We owe this progress to the hard work and dedication of my predecessors; we must recognize their roles in helping to make this dream a reality.”.
“By serving commuters across Metro Manila, Cavite, neighboring areas, the whole project creates a smoother, more reliable mode of transport,” President Marcos said.
The Chief Executive also affirmed the government’s commitment to a seamless, modernized public transportation system would continue, with additional rail projects like the MRT-7 and the North-South Commuter Railway.
Metro Pacific chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP) thanked the President and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos for taking time to be a part of this milestone event. MVP also said that during that day, they already made “a consequential step towards a future which offers respectable public transport to our people.”
MVP also addressed PBBM, saying “Mr. President, this milestone is a testament to one of your enduring commitments to our people: ensuring that every Filipino — regardless of where they come from — has access to reliable and efficient transportation.”
“After all,” MVP added, “access to transit goes beyond convenience; it is also a matter of putting dignity to public transport.”
For his part, LRMC president and CEO Enrico Benipayo said that the Cavite Extension “will allow people to traverse the alignment within a span of less than an hour.” He also said that 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. Enrico 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.
One cannot really erode the strength and stability of a public-private partnership (PPP) and this here once again is another example among many of how a PPP moves the nation forward.
Our gratitude also to Transportation Secretary Jimmy Bautista and LRTA Administrator lawyer Hernando Cabrera for their support in seeing this project through.
I have written of how transportation is made more modern and efficient by the building of bigger and better roadways and infrastructure. Here, we also see that transportation, or public transportation for that matter, is vastly improved by a modern and efficient railway system.
It is good that this kind of system has the support of no other than the Chief Executive of the land. It is a boost to existing railway projects and to those in the pipeline as well.
All aboard! *
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