MANILA - The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) said Friday operations in the Santolan, Katipunan, and Anonas stations of LRT-2 will remain suspended for at least 9 months, a day after fire hit one of the train's power transformers.

"It would take us, based on the assessment of our technical personnel, a minimum of 9 months to return the full line operations in Line 2," Laywer Hernando Cabrera, LRTA spokesperson, said.

LRTA public relations manager Lyn Janeo said operations at LRT-2 stations from Cubao to Recto and vice versa may resume next week.

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

The train line's Santolan station is a commuter's gateway to the Marcos Highway, SM Marikina, and Metro East Mall, while the Katipunan station is a get-off point for students of major universities like Ateneo De Manila, Miriam College, and University of the Philippines Diliman.

The Anonas Station leads passengers to some hospitals and other academic institutions like the Technological Institute of the Philippines and the National College of Business and Arts.

The LRT-2 line halted its operations beginning Thursday, forcing thousands of passengers to find alternative modes of transport in an already congested metropolis.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Friday provided four buses to ferry passengers along the train line for free. Janeo said LRTA was also working on "a free bus ride from Anonas to Santolan for the meantime."

Cabrera earlier said resumption of partial operations of the LRT-2 would be a "major challenge" as the maintenance facilities are on the other end of the line at the Santolan Station.

"Nakulong po ang 7 tren sa area between Recto and Anonas. Ang maintenance facilities po natin ay nasa Santolan, which is hindi sila makakatawid dun sa area sa Katipunan," he said.

(Seven trains are stuck between Recto and Anonas. Our maintenance facilities are in Santolan. They can't cross Katipunan to Santolan.)

Glitches normally hound the country's other metropolitan trains like the MRT-3 along EDSA, with thousands of passengers experiencing delayed train arrivals and departures.