The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) is promising to have more trains up and running at the Light Rail Transit 2 (LRT-2) line by next month, or just in time for the opening of the East Extension Project.
“We are fast-tracking the restoration of the three trainsets to augment the existing operational trains of Line 2 and to reduce the current 14-minute headway to nine minutes,” LRTA Administrator Reynaldo Berroya was quoted as saying in a statement Thursday, March 11.
The two new stations under LRT-2's East Extension Project are the Emerald and Masinag stations, which will be inaugurated on April 26. The aim of the project is to connect Metro Manila and the Province of Rizal by linking the Santolan station to two more stations going to Antipolo in Rizal.
Last March 5, Berroya led a random inspection of the ongoing installation of train propulsion system and train monitoring system on three trainsets at LRT-2 Depot Maintenance Area.
LRT-2 maintenance provider AMSCO JV (joint venture of APT Global Inc., MultiScan Corporation, and Opus Land, Inc.) and manufacturer Woojin Industrial Systems Co, Ltd started the installation of the said systems two days earlier.
Berroya noted that fielding more trains will result to the accommodation of more than 20,000 passengers daily in addition to the current average daily ridership of 40,000.
“As train occupancy of passengers is regulated during this time of pandemic with passenger safety as our top priority, deploying additional trains will certainly help us cut the travel time of our commuters,” the official said.
“With the commitment provided by our maintenance provider, manufacturer, and the LRTA, we expect to have eight trainsets and 10 trainsets by second quarter and third quarter of 2021, respectively,” he added.
Berroya also stressed that other down trains are set to be rehabilitated and new trainsets are planned to be procured for the LRT-2 East and West Extension Projects.