MANILA - The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) seeks to complete its west extension project for LRT-2, which will add 3 more stations in Manila, by 2026, its head said on Wednesday.

LRTA administrator Hernando Cabrera said they are just waiting for the budget of the 3-kilometer extension project to be approved. The project's total cost is at P10.1 billion as of September 2020, a transmittal letter showed.

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"The moment na maibigay sa atin yung tinatawg natin na multi-year obligational authority, ipapa-bid natin agad ito kasi tapos na lahat ang plano na ito, mayroon tayong consultant dito at talagang ang hinihintay natin ay ang papeles ng ating budget," Cabrera said in a televised briefing.

"Usually kapag nakuha natin ang pondo, publish agad tayo ng invitation sa ating mga bidders. It will take usually 3 to 4 months, ang ating mga bidding, and then mag-start sila," he said.

The extension project aims to build stations in Tutuban (next to Cluster Mall), Divisoria (west of Recto Avenue) and Pier 4, based on the document.

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The locations were chosen to "capture commuters using inter-island ferries," said Cabrera.

"Kung maumpisahan natin ang construction this 2023, give us 3 years, mga 2026 matatapos natin yan, magiging operational yan, depende kung mabigyan tayo ng pondo," he added.

The LRTA earlier said that after the project's completion, it will only take commuters 5 minutes to travel from Recto Station to Pier 4, while the travel time between Masinag and Pier 4 will not exceed an hour.

The project will add 16,000 more LRT-2 passengers to the current 240,000 passengers daily, the LRTA had said.