The overall progress rate of the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) East Extension Project is now at 92 percent, with the two new stations being built in Marikina and Antipolo expected to be fully operational by next year, the Department of Transportation said on Wednesday.
DOTr said that the east extension project headed by Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) Administrator Rey Berroya and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, is currently 92.14 percent complete as of September 2020.
The Department said it targets the two new stations – Emerald in Marikina City and Masinag at the Masinag Junction in Antipolo City – to be fully operational upon its launching on April 2021.
The East Extension Project intends to add four kilometers to the 13.8-kilometer LRT-2 train line which currently runs from Recto Ave. in Manila to Santolan Station in Marikina, connecting to Antipolo City.
Upon completion of this 3.8-kilometer railway extension project, the Department said that travel time from Recto to Masinag is expected to significantly drop to about 40 minutes from the usual three hours travel through bus or jeepney.
The new stations are seen to accommodate an additional 80,000 passengers daily, boosting the rail line's daily ridership of 240,000 passengers before the pandemic, the DOTr earlier said.