by: JIMMYLEY E. GUZMAN
PASIG CITY, June 23 (PIA) -- The Light Rail Transit Authority has announced the rescheduling of the inauguration of its LRT-2 East Extension Project to July 5, 2021.
“We regret to inform the riding public that the long-awaited opening of the 4-km LRT-2 East Extension Project was postponed for at least two weeks to give maximum time for the contractor to complete the signalling migration and integration works, and other preparatory activities,” LRTA Administrator Reynaldo Berroya said.
According to the LRTA, the signalling system is vital in railway operations to ensure a safe and smooth train and traffic movement, controlled speed, accurate platform position, safe distance between trains, automatic stop in cases of technical breakdown and is designed in accordance with railway fail-safe principles.
The extension project was earlier scheduled for inauguration Tuesday, June 22.
Following the emergency meeting last weekend between the LRTA management and Marubeni-DMCI Consortium, the Contractor of Package 3, both parties expressed their concerns on the need for the safety case and full completion of the ongoing testing and commissioning of safety critical subsystems such as automatic train protection (ATP), interlocking, and Local Control Panel (LCP).
Likewise, the global spread COVID-19 has constrained ease of travel, restricting the arrival of foreign technical experts in signalling system and some critical equipment necessary to conduct the integration activity and monitor the compliance of the project with Railway Safety International Standards.
“We cannot compromise and risk the safety of the passengers so we recommended the postponement of the operations to the Department of Transportation to which the DOTr concurred. The LRTA and DOTr agreed that the safety case shall be issued first before commencing operations. We at LRTA and DOTr are always committed to provide our passengers with a safe, reliable, and comfortable journey,” the LRTA Administrator noted.
Berroya further appealed to the public for understanding and cooperation as the integration of the signalling system of the two new stations to the existing system will require a shutdown of the entire existing operations from Santolan to Recto for two consecutive weekends from June 26 to 27 and from July 3 to 4 for the smooth implementation of the activity.
With the inauguration ceremony set on July 5, the Marikina and Antipolo stations are set to open to passengers the day after, July 6, 2021. (PIA NCR)
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