THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said Tuesday that the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) East Extension Project is now 60% complete with construction scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020.
In a statement, the department said the last phase of the project officially started Tuesday, covering the laying of rail tracks and installation of the electromechanical system (EMS).
“The winning contractor, the consortium of Marubeni Corp. and DM Consunji, Inc. (DMCI), is set to start the track works and the integration of the EMS into the existing system, and these are expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2020,” it said.
The East Extension Project intends to add four kilometers to the 13.8-kilometer LRT-2 train line to connect it to Antipolo City. This will involve installing two new stations: Emerald Station in Marikina City and Masinag Station at the Masinag Junction in Antipolo.
The extension is expected to add 80,000 daily passengers to the current 240,000 daily ridership of LRT-2, which currently connects Recto Avenue in Manila to Santolan station in Marikina.
“Once this is completed, travel time from Recto to Masinag will be reduced to 40 minutes compared to up to three hours travel via bus or jeepney,” Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said in the statement.
The construction of the viaducts of the LRT-2 East Extension stated in April 2015, and of the two stations in February 2017. In a May 2017 groundbreaking ceremony, the DoTr said it hoped to complete the project in August 2018 to be operational by first quarter of 2019.
Naoto Tago, the spokesperson for the Marubeni-DMCI consortium, said in statement that the group “understand the importance of this project” and will “make sure that we deliver a working, high-quality track works, and a functioning E&M system by the last quarter of 2020.” — Denise A. Valdez
