Interaksyon.com, 31 December 2012
By Darwin G. Amojelar
MANILA – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) expects to bid out in the first quarter of 2013 the project extending the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT 2) to Antipolo.
Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the civil works for the P9.76 billion LRT 2 East Extension Project would be funded by the national government, while the acquisition of light rail vehicles (LRVs) would be financed by official development assistance (ODA).
“The operation and maintenance (O&M) would be public-private partnership,” Abaya said.
The LRT 2 Extension Project involves adding 4.2 kilometers to the railway from the existing Santolan station at Marcos Highway, Pasig City, all the way to the intersection of Marcos Highway and Sumulong Highway at Masinag, Cainta.
An elevated viaduct and two additional stations – one in front of Robinson’s Place Metro East and a second at the Masinag Junction – will be constructed as well.
The project, which will serve an additional 130,000 passengers from the current 240,000, is scheduled for completion before the end of President Benigno Aquino III’s term in 2016.
The existing LRT 2 is a 13.8-kilometer mass transit line that cuts across five cities in Metro Manila, namely Pasig, Marikina, Quezon City, San Juan and Manila, and passes the major thoroughfares of Marcos Highway, Aurora Boulevard, Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, Legarda Street and Recto Avenue.
The LRT 2 system was built at a cost of P31 billion in soft loans mainly from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
