This will enable direct travel from Quezon City all the way to Sucat, Parañaque.
The first phase of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1’s planned extension to Cavite will finally open to the public next Saturday, November 16.
According to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the 6.8 kilometer-long additional stretch will add five new stations south of the current Baclaran terminal station.
These new stops are Redemptorist, MIA, Asia World (PITX), Ninoy Aquino, and Dr. Santos — which are all located in Parañaque City.
The fare from Baclaran to Dr. Santos and vice versa is expected to cost passengers Php 25.
Meanwhile, for those looking to commute from FPJ Avenue to Dr. Santos, they will have to set themselves back some Php 45.
Previously, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista noted that the extension to Dr. Santos will help travelling to the Parañaque Integrated Transport Exchange (PITX) and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) more convenient through LRT-1.
Aside from being a train station, an intermodal transport facility outside the Dr. Santos stop is also being constructed and is planned to complement the PITX.
The upcoming opening of the five new stations is expected to increase the daily ridership volume in the entire Line 1 to over 600,000.
After Dr. Santos, there will be three more stations, which has been divided to two phases. The new southern terminus at Niog station in Bacoor, Cavite expected to be completed by 2031.
Meanwhile, in the line’s northern portion, there will also be a new terminus once the construction of a unified grand station along North Avenue, Quezon City has been finished.
The grand North Avenue station will be an interchange with the Metro Rapid Transit (MRT) Lines 3 and 7.
Eventually, including the nine upcoming stations to the current network of 20 stops from Baclaran to FPJ Avenue, LRT-1 will boost its daily ridership count to 800,000.
Manila’s LRT Line 1, which opened in 1984, is the oldest rapid transit line in Southeast Asia, rivaling the world-famous Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system of Singapore that opened in 1987 and Bangkok, Thailand’s Sky Train which began operating in 1999.
However, unlike its peers, it is not as agressive in expanding its network as its most recent extension was already fourteen years ago, when the Balintawak and Roosevelt (FPJ Avenue) stations opened in 2010.