RAIL commuters coming from and to the east side of Metro Manila will soon experience a more convenient travel as the two new additional stations of the LRT-2 East Extension Project will finally commence operations on 27 April 2021.
The two new stations – the Marikina Station (in front of the Sta. Lucia mall and Robinsons) and the Antipolo Station (in front of SM Masinag) – will have a soft opening on 26 April 2021, and will immediately start operations the next day.
As of 31 January 2021, the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) reported that the LRT-2 East Extension Project is already 93.42 percent complete.
“In less than two months po, mag-ooperate na po ‘yung ating dalawang bagong istasyon,” LRTA Spokesperson Atty. Hernando Cabrera said in an online media briefing by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) Railways sector held last week.
It can be recalled that in a project briefing and concourse walk-through of the line’s Marikina Station in January 2021, DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade stressed that the stations must be finished immediately so that the riding public can benefit from the project at the soonest possible time.
The two new stations will serve commuters from Recto, Manila going to Masinag, Antipolo, and back. Travel time from Recto to Masinag will only take about 40 minutes.
Once completed, the LRT-2 East Extension can accommodate an additional 80,000 passengers daily, boosting the entire rail line’s current daily ridership to 240,000 passengers.
Cabrera said that Package 1 of the project, which involves the construction of the eastbound and westbound viaducts, has been finished. Package 2, which involves the design and construction of stations, is also substantially complete. Meanwhile, works are ongoing for Package 3, which covers the project’s electro-mechanical system, rails, power supply, telecommunications, and signaling system.
Cabrera said that the rail line’s electro-mechanical works are being fast-tracked to meet the April 26, 2021 target date for the project’s inauguration.
“Ongoing po ngayon ‘yan at pina-fast track na po natin ‘yung trabaho natin diyan para matupad po natin ‘yung target na April 26 inauguration,” he said.