LRT Line 1 North Extension project in full swing

The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) gave assurances yesterday that the LRT Line 1 North Extension project was "in full swing."

Three qualified consultants which will assist them in the project have been selected recently.

Melquiades "Mel Robles, LRTA administrator, said that in the pre-qualification bidding conducted last week for a consultant, three firms – Metrolink JV, Schema Konsult-DCCD Engineering Corp., KatahiraEngineers Asia Inc.-Asia Halcrow Inc., and SPI-JCCS-WCI Joint Venture – were selected from a list of seven bidders.

Robles said each of the three qualifiers have proven track records in the rail industry, not only in the Philippines but also internationally.

He reiterated that the Line 1 North Extension project was right on schedule and they expect construction of the extension project to begin early next year.

The North Extension Project aims to extend the LRT Line 1 to the North, through the construction of a 5.4-kilometer elevated line from the Monumento Station to the North Avenue Station of MRT 3 to close the EDSA loop.

The project is one of the top priority projects of President Arroyo under the Luzon Urban Beltway Super Region. It is expected to serve around 800,000 to one million passengers once fully operational.

"If undertaken by us, the project will only cost P6.57 billion since we already have the rolling stock and we will only have to construct four stations," he stressed.

Earlier proponents offered to close the loop for P34.2 billion

The LRTA presently has a total fleet of 135 LRVs, including the 48 newly inaugurated third generation (3G) trains, increasing its capacity to serve 40,000 passengers per hour per direction.