LRT-1 to Open 5 New Stations in Mid-November as “Early Christmas Gift” to Commuters
Christmas comes early for Metro Manila train commuters as the Philippine Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced Thursday (Nov. 7) the opening of five new stations of the Light Rail Transit Line 1’s (LRT-1) Cavite Extension.
In a press briefing, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said that the five new stations would benefit the commuting public and would connect the northern suburbs of Metro Manila to its southern counterparts, specifically, Parañaque.
“This will be our early Christmas gift to the residents of the area,” Bautista told reporters, adding that the tentative opening date of the stations would be on Nov. 16.
Light Rail Manila Corporation president Enrico Benipayo further claimed that the new stations would allow commuters to travel the span of the whole rail line from end to end “in a span of less than an hour.”
“This project is expected to bring significant benefits to commuters, including reduced travel time, improved air quality, and economic growth in the region,” he added.
It is understood that the LRT-1 Cavite Extension was initially announced by the late former president Benigno Aquino III in the early 2010s, but its partial opening was drastically delayed by over a decade and a half.
Aside from LRT-1, several rail projects are also under construction within Metro Manila, such as the MRT-7 line from San Jose del Monte, Bulacan to North Avenue Common Station in Quezon City, the Metro Manila Subway from Valenzuela to Bicutan in Parañaque, and the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) from New Clark City in Tarlac to Calamba, Laguna.
LRT-1’s New, Future Stations
Currently, the southernmost terminus of LRT-1 is Baclaran station, a few meters behind Baclaran Church.
In the weeks ahead of the scheduled opening, LRT-1’s third- and fourth-generation coach fleets have been observed traveling along the route of the line’s five new stations: Redemptorist (in front of Baclaran Church); MIA (near the intersection of Roxas Blvd./CAVITEX and NAIA Road); Asiaworld/PITX (located beside the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange); Ninoy Aquino Ave. (the nearest station to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport to date); and Dr. A. Santos (near SM Sucat).
Stations located in the Metro Manila suburb of Las Piñas and the city of Bacoor in Cavite province are yet to be constructed, though the line’s southern depot in the latter already began its construction.
Beyond Bacoor, original plans of the LRT-1 included the possibility of interconnecting it with a proposed “LRT-6” Cavite line running from Bacoor to Dasmariñas, although concrete proposals regarding such have not yet materialized.
Meanwhile, Philippine Coast Guard commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan announced in the same press briefing that the country would receive 40 additional patrol boats from the French government, which, according to the US Naval Institute, would effectively quadruple the force’s fleet.
Gavan added that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also approved the acquisition of five 97-meter boats from Japan.