Operations at three Light Rail Transit Line 2 stations will be suspended for a maximum of nine months as they undergo repairs as a result of a fire that hit its transformers last Thursday.
Light Rail Transit Authority spokesperson Hernan Cabrera said yesterday that the Santolan, Katipunan, and Anonas stations will be out of service for at least nine months to undergo repair and rehabilitation.
“The stations that will not operate for nine months, definitely are Santolan, Katipunan, and Anonas. But eventually, we are aiming to upgrade the operation up to Anonas (station). So within the rest of the nine months, Katipunan and Santolan stations will be closed,” Cabrera said.
LRT 2 operations were shut down beginning last Thursday morning when power rectifiers between Anonas and Katipunan stations and at the Santolan depot exploded and caused a blaze.
Due to the incident, the LRTA suspended the entire LRT-2 operations until this weekend, forcing thousands of passengers to find alternative modes of transportation.
According to Cabrera, the resumption of partial operations from Recto station in Manila to Cubao station in Quezon City and vice-versa is expected to start on Monday.
“Our target for partial operations, meaning we can operate from Recto to Cubao or from Cubao to Recto, is either Monday or Tuesday. We will be able to do that,” Cabrera added.
He pointed out that the damage caused by the incident is massive and that some parts are needed to be procured from the United Kingdom.
“The damage caused by the fire is massive and those damaged parts are really big parts that we need to import. We have spare parts but it is not enough to cover the damages so we really need to import. We considered the importation process, procurement process, the delivery, the shipment, and the installation process,” Cabrera explained.
“The assessment of our technical people is nine months but we will be doing our best to fasttrack the repair and immediately resume operation,” he added. (Alexandria San Juan)
