THE Transportation department said on Wednesday that the civil works of the expanded Baclaran Depot of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) Cavite Extension project have been completed.
The expansion “adds 4.2 hectares to the existing 6.4-hectare Baclaran Depot to give way to more rail tracks and to accommodate more trains,” the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said in a statement.
The project was funded through official development assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
“With the expansion of the Baclaran Depot, 21 stabling and maintenance tracks will be added to the existing 45, increasing the depot’s stabling capacity from 130 to 182 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) and increasing its heavy and light maintenance capacity from 30 to 48 LRVs,” the DoTr said.
Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), the private operator of LRT-1, said that with the civil works completion of the new depot, it is all set to provide the electromechanical and rail systems works, including traction power supply, overhead catenary systems, and track works.
The company’s role is to “ensure that these works are compatible with the existing LRT-1 system and the future Cavite Extension system,” it noted.
The first phase of the Cavite Extension project was nearly 68% complete as of end-December 2021.
The P64.9-billion LRT-1 Cavite Extension project, a public-private partnership that the National Economic and Development Authority board approved in November 2013, aims to add an 11.7-kilometer Baclaran-Bacoor, Cavite segment to the current 18.1-kilometer train line. The new stretch will have eight stations.
The first phase of the extension consists of a seven-kilometer stretch with five stations between the Redemptorist Church area in Baclaran and Dr. Santos Ave. in Parañaque.
The viaduct of the first phase of the project has been completed. The first phase is expected to be completed by late 2024 or early 2025.
The entire Cavite Extension is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2027.
Once completed, the line’s daily ridership is expected by the Transportation department to increase to 800,000 passengers from 500,000, with Baclaran-Bacoor travel time to be cut to 25 minutes from up to two hours.
LRMC is a joint venture of Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp. and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is one of three Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin
