Bidding for LRT-Line 1 extension project underway

MANILA, Philippines - Bidding for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 extension from Baclaran to Bacoor in Cavite will start soon, following President Aquino’s approval of the P60-billion project the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) presented late Thursday.

“I don’t know yet the timetable, but we will leave it with the Department of Transportation and Communications to determine the schedule of the bidding for that particular project,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

He said it would be up to Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas to set the bidding and the construction of the railways, aimed at easing the traffic and providing mass transport to Cavite residents.

“We’ll start bidding in several weeks,” Roxas tweeted Thursday.

NEDA deputy director general Rolando Tungpalan said in a telephone interview yesterday that the project would extend the rail line 12 kilometers from Baclaran to Bacoor, Cavite. The LRT 1 currently runs from Roosevelt, Quezon City to Baclaran.

“This project is going to be structured along those lines, along a (public-private partnership) model,” he said.

Once completed, Roxas said the line would serve about 40,000 passengers per day.     

Aquino revealed during the 115th anniversary of the Office of the President that around 24,000 vehicles traverse the Cavite route that excludes public utility vehicles like jeepneys, buses and FX utility vehicles.