FIVE new stations of the Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT-1) will be operational starting this month, accommodating 80,000 additional daily riders, according to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
Bautista announced in a press briefing in Malacañang on Thursday the LRT-1 extension to Cavite will be operational in the next two to three weeks.
“This will be the first railway project to be completed by the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. We hope that the opening of LRT extension will help alleviate traffic, to support thousands additional passengers. This will be our early Christmas gift to the area,” Bautista said.
Phase 1 of the LRT-1 extension to Cavite involves five new stations: Redemptorist-Aseana, MIA Road, PITX, Ninoy Aquino Avenue and Dr. Santos (formerly Sucat) stations. Phase 1 is expected to reduce travel time from Quezon City to Parañaque City to less than an hour.
Enrico Benipayo, newly appointed Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) president and chief executive officer, said in the briefing LRT-1’s current daily ridership is around 320,000.
Benipayo said once the five new stations are opened, ridership will increase by approximately 80,000 passengers daily in the first year of operation.
“We’re anticipating after five years we’ll be doubling the number of passengers along the alignment in 2028 to 2029, to around 650,000 average daily riders,” Benipayo said.
With the operation of the new stations, the end-to-end fare or from Fernando Poe Jr. Station in Quezon City to Dr. Santos Station in Sucat will be P45 per passenger for a single journey ticket, up from the current fare of P35 per passenger from Fernando Poe Jr. Station to Baclaran Station, said Benipayo.
The fare is lower by P2 per ride if the passenger will use the stored value card, LRMC said.
