LRT-2 Marikina, Antipolo stations to operate April

Stations in the cities of Marikina and Antipolo will finally start serving passengers beginning 26 April

The two stations of the $62-million East Extension of the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) are set to open in April.

Transportation chief Arthur P. Tugade told the Daily Tribune’s “Straight Talk” on Saturday that the stations in the cities of Marikina and Antipolo will finally start serving passengers beginning 26 April.

He said the four-kilometer LRT2 extension features two stations after the existing Santolan Station: Emerald Station — which lies along Marcos Highway and adjacent to Gil Fernando and Felix Avenues and the Masinag Station — situated near Sumulong Highway in Antipolo.

Currently, west-bound commuters from Antipolo, Marikina and other parts of Rizal province take jeepneys or shuttles to LRT-2’s Santolan Station, which adds to the perennial traffic along Marcos Highway.

But with the LRT-2 East Extension, some 80,000 passengers are expected to be served in addition to LRT-2’s current 240,000 daily ridership.

Reduced travel time

According to Tugade, this will definitely reduce travel time from Recto Avenue in Manila to Masinag to about 40 minutes, compared to the exhausting three-hour bus or jeepney ride.

The LRT-2 presently connects Recto Avenue to the Santolan Station in Marikina.

In February 2019, the government awarded the contract to the joint venture between Japan-based firm Marubeni Corporation and DM Consunji Inc. for the track installation works and electromechanical systems, which formed part of Package 3 of the LRT East Extension Project.

Package 1, which involves the construction of a viaduct, was completed in March 2017, while Package 2 involved the construction of the Emerald and Masinag stations.

The LRT-2’s Santolan, Katipunan and Anonas stations resumed operations on Friday, 22 January, a year after it closed down due to a fire caused by a power rectifier that tripped.

Operations at the three stations were originally slated to resume in October 2020 but the strict virus lockdown disrupted power system repairs.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PNA SOME 80,000 passengers are expected to be served in addition to LRT-2’s current 240,000 daily ridership, and will definitely reduce travel time from Recto Avenue in Manila to Masinag to about 40 minutes.