With Metro Manila’s insufficient network of trains, the consortium of Ayala Corporation and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) brings good news to commuters: The construction of the P64.9-billion ($1.37-billion) Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1) extension from Baclaran to Bacoor, Cavite will begin in June.

This was after the group of Ayala and MPIC – Light Rail Manila Consortium (LRMC) – on Friday, February 12, signed the P24-billion ($506.02-million) loan facility and the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement for the LRT1 Cavite extension deal.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) awarded the LRT1 Cavite extension project to the LRMC in September 2014.

“These milestone agreements give us significant headway towards the construction and commissioning of the much-awaited Cavite Extension which will benefit an additional 300,000 passengers from four big cities in southern Manila,” LRMC president and CEO Jesus Francisco said.

LRMC signed the 15-year Omnibus Loan and Security Agreement with Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank), Security Bank Corporation and Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), with P15.3 billion ($322.59-million) of the total loan amount allocated for the Cavite extension and P8.7 billion ($183.44-million) for the rehabilitation of the existing LRT1 system.

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