MANILA, Philippines — LRT-1 saw its highest monthly ridership last month since the consortium of Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) assumed operations in 2015.
LRMC said passenger volume hit 14.63 million in August, up eight percent due to the increased number of trains and reduced waiting time of passengers.
The private operator said the all-time high monthly ridership was achieved following its programmed improvements of the tracks, trains and the 20 stations of Metro Manila’s oldest railway.
“The ridership growth is a manifestation of stronger customer preference for LRT-1 over other modes of transportation,” LRMC president and CEO Juan Alfonso said.
“It is a significant achievement for our employees who have focused on increasing the number of trains and trips, reducing queueing time and travel time, as well as improving the safety, security and cleanliness of the stations,” he added.
The train rehabilitation program has allowed the company to increase the number of train cars by 45 percent, from 77 in 2015 to 112.
More train cars, in turn, resulted in more trips and shorter queueing time.
From an average of 478 trips per day in 2016, The number increased to 530 last year.
“This is the privatization effect,” Alfonso said.
“With over P10.5 billion invested in capital projects to date, we were able to improve the safety, security and cleanliness of the stations as well as provide more trains, more trips, extended operating hours, less waiting time, more passengers, much improved customer satisfaction and the achievement of ISO certifications for quality management and environmental management – all unprecedented milestones in the 34-year history of Manila’s oldest light rail system,” he added.
A study released by Kantar TNS and Phar early this year also showed improved customer experience on LRT-1.
In the 2018 customer preference study, customers said LRT-1 performance improved over the last two years.
LRMC is a joint venture company of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., Ayala Corp.’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd.
The consortium assumed operations and maintenance of LRT-1 in September 2015 through a P65-billion 32-year concession agreement with the Department of Transportation and the Light Rail Transit Authority.