LRT-1 trips to reach Sucat this month

MANILA, Philippines —  Commuters are set to travel faster to the south of Metro Manila, and soon to Cavite, as the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) is opening its extension tracks to Parañaque City.

Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista told reporters yesterday that the first of three phases of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension will open on Nov. 16, in time for the holiday traffic in December.

The first leg of the expansion adds five stations to the LRT-1: Redemptorist, MIA Road, PITX (Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange), Ninoy Aquino and Dr. A. Santos or Sucat.

Commuters no longer have to alight at the current endpoint in Baclaran to go to PITX, where they can ride buses to anywhere in the Philippines.

The MIA Road station is close to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, opening the nearest rail stop to the NAIA for now, with the subway still under construction.

Bautista said LRT-1 operator Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) is working on building the remaining segments of the Cavite line during the Marcos administration.

The second phase of the project will traverse Las Piñas and the third ends in Bacoor, Cavite.

The LRT-1 facilitates the commute of more than 323,000 Filipinos daily.

Once the first leg of the extension is opened, LRMC estimates that its daily ridership will increase by 80,000, making LRT-1 the busiest rail line.