18 December 2019, MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), the private operator of LRT-1, received a commendation from Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade for the fast and efficient progress of the on-going construction of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension during a site visit Tuesday, December 17.
LRMC President and CEO Juan F. Alfonso who was present in the site visit said, “We thank the good Secretary Tugade and our partner government and private agencies for their support to make the LRT-1 Cavite Extension project happen. The construction has really started and we’re excited for our Filipino passengers to finally experience a comfortable, safe, and efficient mode of transportation that they deserve.”
LRMC works closely with DOTr and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) for the Cavite Extension project under the Build Build Build program. Since the start of civil works on September 1, 2019, the pre-cast yard and staging area have been completed. Six piers and five portals have also been built from the pre-cast yard towards the area of Dr. Santos station. Preparations of the bored piling works along Ninoy Aquino Avenue is on-going and construction of MIA station will commence in 2020.
According to Cavite Extension Management Team (CEMT) Project Execution Manager Reynaldo Pangilinan, “The construction methodology being used in LRT-1 Cavite Extension is an above-ground launcher, which allows for faster execution of the project. This also minimizes effect on the ground-level traffic because the viaducts are transported above-ground instead of street-level.”
From Baclaran, eight (8) more stations–Redemptorist, MIA, Asiaworld, Ninoy Aquino, Dr. Santos, Las Piñas, Zapote, and Niog–will be added which will increase the total number of LRT-1 stations from 20 to 28. Once fully operational, the entire line of LRT-1 is expected to accommodate 800,000 passengers daily, nearly double its current average ridership of 480,000 to 500,000 passengers daily.
“Very good. I’m really very happy that I saw excavations and vertical pillars. I will say I’m very impressed with what I saw. It’s [the construction] moving so fast that it is unbelievable,” Secretary Tugade said.
The 11.7-kilometer project aims to cut travel time between Baclaran and Bacoor from 1 hour and 10 minutes to just 25 minutes
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LRMC is a joint venture company of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corporation (MPLRC), Ayala Corporation’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation (AC Infra), and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd. (MIHPL). It assumed operations and maintenance of LRT-1 in September 2015 through a PHP 65-billion 32-year concession agreement with the Department of Transportation and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA).