Anonas, Katipunan and Santolan LRT-2 stations to be repaired by end of June 2020
MANILA, Philippines — Operations at the Anonas, Katipunan and Santolan stations of the LRT-2 line are expected to return by the end of June 2020, the Department of Transportation said, after months without the line's final three eastward stations.
The three stations were rendered out of commission after a sudden electric fire severely burnt the railway system’s power rectifiers somewhere along the Anonas station, prompting the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), which operates the LRT-2, to continue with partial operations instead, with its Araneta-Cubao Station as its eastern terminus.
Commuters wait in long lines as the LRT-2 implements partial operations from Cubao to Recto and Recto to Cubao stations on Tuesday morning. | via Michael Varcas pic.twitter.com/zHHkctdeTf
— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) October 7, 2019
RELATED: Power glitches disrupt LRT-2, MRT-3 operations
Within that same week, both the LRT-1 and the MRT-3 experienced technical glitches of their own, prompting labor and transport groups to tag the situation as a mass transportation crisis.
"We wish to inform the public that after a highly-technical intervention, the currently suspended operations from Santolan to Anonas is expected TO RESUME by the end of June 2020," DOTr said.
Being that the LRT-2 is currently the only mass transit network in Metro Manila that runs in an east-to-west direction, the loss of the three stations was projected to weigh heavily on commuters as the 16.75-kilometer line, which normally serves 11 stations, was reduced to an eight-stop line.
In the days following the fire, even private companies pitched in to provide commuters alternative options. The LRTA made available 10 point-to-point modernized PUVs traversing Santolan in Pasig to Legarda in Manila, while the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Philippine Coast Guards, too, provided the public free bus rides from Santolan to Cubao and vice versa. Motorcycle taxi service Angkas also offered commuters free trips along the line.
READ: PUVs ferry commuters as LRT-2 remains out of service
But since then, the eastward jeep terminals at Araneta Center, where the LRT-2 Cubao Station is, have been tightly congested on a nightly basis.
Commuters headed east crowd the Araneta City jeepney depot in Quezon City on Tuesday night. (Video courtesy of Miguel de Guzman/The Philippine STAR) pic.twitter.com/HQlpHLct5H
— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) October 8, 2019
In an earlier report, an urban planner told Philstar.com that the incident highlighted the need for structural change.
Weeks after the initial accident on October 15, Hernando Cabrera, spokesman for the LRTA, said that the burnt power transformers could be repaired in "two to three months." However, December and most of January 2020 came and went without a word from the LRTA, despite multiple requests for comment from Philstar.com.
READ: ‘LRT-2 fully operational in 2 to 3 months’
"This, after the required parts and equipment needed for the line repair and restoration underwent stringent government processes of procurement, and its delivery, installation, testing, and commissioning will require significant repair period," DOTr added. — with reports from Gaea Katreena Cabico
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