Smooth run for LRT-2

The Santolan, Pasig City to Legarda, Manila run of the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) ran smoothly on its first day of commercial operations yesterday.

Engineer Ed San Juan, LRT Line 2 operations manager, said there were no hitches, save for long queues appearing in stations particularly at Santolan and Legarda during peak hours from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

San Juan revealed that the trains were packed during the peak hours.

He said that the long queues of passengers lining up to buy single journey tickets are expected in the coming days.

San Juan said this would entail educating and urging passengers to prepare small change and avoid paying in large bills such as P500 or P1,000 bills.

Light Rail Transit Authority administrator Pacifico Fajardo earlier said the opening of the Santolan-Legarda run of the line was crucial in decongesting traffic at the traffic prone corridor of the peripheral areas of Marcos Highway, Aurora Boulevard, Magsaysay Boulevard and intersecting streets and avenues.

The entire LRT Line 2 which runs from Santolan to the western end of C.M. Recto Avenue in Manila is projected to open by October. Previously, the LRT Line 2 only ran from Santolan to Cubao.

Yesterday, six new stations including, the Legarda station, were activated, namely: the Betty Go-Belmonte station in Cubao, Gilmore Avenue in New Manila, J. Ruiz in San Juan, and the V. Mapa and Pureza stations in Sta Mesa.

Four stations, covered under the LRT-2 phase I package, has been operational since April 5, 2003. These are Santolan, Katipunan Avenue, Anonas and Araneta Center-Cubao.

Fajardo said that with the commercial operation of the rail line from Santolan to Legarda this April, they project travel time from Santolan to Legarda to take only 20 minutes, a huge benefit for the riding public particularly those living and commuting regularly from the Rizal province areas, Marikina, Pasig, San Juan into Manila. – Rainier Allan Ronda