The first phase of the extension to Cavite has finally opened to the commuting public.
At 5:00 am on Saturday, November 16, Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1’s began revenue service to and from the new southern terminus at Dr. Santos station in Sucat, Parañaque.
The line is one of the five new stations along the 6.8 kilometer-long additional stretch of Line 1 from its former south end at the Baclaran terminal station.
These new stops are as follows: Redemptorist-Aseana, MIA, Asia World (PITX), Ninoy Aquino Avenue, and Dr. Santos (formerly Sucat) — all of which are located in Parañaque City.
The single journey fare from Baclaran to Dr. Santos and vice versa costs Php 25, with a slightly lower Php 21 fare for passengers using stored value Beep cards.
Meanwhile, for those looking to commute from FPJ Avenue to Dr. Santos, they will have to set themselves back the amount of Php 45, with the SVC fare set at Php 43.
With the line’s extension to Sucat, the LRT-1 expects to increase its daily ridership volume in the entire line to burgeon to over 600,000.
After Dr. Santos, there are three more stations that will be added to further extend Line 1 to Bacoor, Cavite. The plan has been divided to two phases, with the upcoming southernmost terminus Niog station 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.
In the future, including the four upcoming stations to the current network of 25 stops from Dr. Santos to FPJ Avenue, LRT-1 will eventually boost its daily ridership count to 800,000.
Manila’s LRT Line 1 opened in 1984 and 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.
It also forms part of the Metro Manila train sysrem, which also comprises of LRT-2 from Recto to Antipolo, MRT-3 from Taft Avenue (Pasay) to North Avenue, and the upcoming MRT-7 from Quezon City to Bulacan, the North-South Commuter Railway of the PNR, and the Metro Manila Subway.