31 May 2017, Manila, Philippines — Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) is set to deploy additional trips on LRT-1 with a new timetable that will reduce headways and shorten waiting time for commuters along the 20-kilometer line from Baclaran in Paranaque City to Roosevelt in Quezon City.
LRMC President and Chief Executive Officer Rogelio L. Singson today announced that the new timetable will increase the number of trips on weekdays by 8 percent from the current 512 to 554 trips daily. “For LRT-1 passengers, more trips mean shorter waiting time and lesser crowding on the platforms,” he explained.
Current schedule for holidays and weekends, he added, will remain the same.
For the new timetable, LRMC will also be increasing the speed limit of 40kph to allow 60kph, along the LRT-1 north extension, or the four-kilometer line from Monumento to Roosevelt Stations only.
Extended hours in the morning and evening, which had been on dry run, will also be made official in the new timetable. From 5:00 AM, first trip from both Baclaran and Roosevelt Stations will be 4:30 AM. Evening extended hours will also be official with the 10:00 PM last trip northbound from Baclaran and 10:15 PM last trip southbound from Roosevelt.
“The extended hours is one innovation that has generated positive feedback from passengers,” Singson said. “Customers have reported that this has made early morning and late night travel safer and more convenient for the night students and late shift workers.”
Recently, LRMC has also restored middle cars for LRT Generation 1 trains, “The number of our light rail vehicles (LRVs) has increased by 34% since we took over from only 77 LRVs to 103 LRVs,” Singson added.
Alongside the restoration of additional LRVs, the Company also implemented strategic improvements that resulted in operational efficiencies such as the decentralization of station operations, automation of operational metrics, and improved traffic management.
Singson further disclosed that LRMC has achieved an average daily ridership of 443,000 for the first quarter of 2017, or a six percent year-on-year increase.
(ENDS)
LRMC is a joint venture company of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corporation (MPLRC), Ayala Corporation’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation (AC Infra), and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd. (MIHPL)