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MANILA
 Philippines

Manila Rapid Transit Map
Click on map to expand!

 System

Metro-Manila, the metropolitan area of the capital of the Philippines is home to some 10 million people.

The current metro system consists of three lines and is mainly elevated; despite using similar technology, two lines are referred to as LRT and one as MRT:

 

 Line 1

19.7 km, 20 stations

LRT 1 is a fully elevated north-south route opened 1 Dec. 1984 (7 km) and June 1985 (8 km). It runs along Rizal and Taft Avenues (15 km, 18 stations). The capacity of the line was increased in 1998. The line runs on a precast concrete structure 7 m above the street, designed to withstand earthquakes. It has 1435 mm gauge and 750 V overhead power supply. Average station distance is 825 m, stations are only accessible via stairs, there are no elevators or escalators. Central Terminal, Monumento (original northern terminal) and Baclaran (southern terminal) function as transfer stations to buses and jeepneys. Trains operate in 2-4 car units (one unit 29.3 m long, 2.5 m wide), which have roof ventilation.

01 Dec 1984: Baclaran - Central Terminal
12 May 1985: Central Terminal - Monumento
22 Mar 2010: Monumento - Balintawak
22 Oct 2010: Balintawak - Roosevelt (since 08/2023 Fernando Poe Jr.)

LRT1 LRT1 LRT1
 Line 2

17.6 km, 13 stations

LRT 2 (Megatren) runs from Manila in the west via Quezon City to Pasig in the east. The line is elevated except for Katipunan station, which is underground. Construction of this line started in 1998 and it runs along Recto Ave, Magsaysay Blvd and Aurora Blvd. Although called LRT, this line uses heavy rail metro vehicles.

05 April 2003: Santolan - Cubao (4.3 km)
05 April 2004: Cubao - Legarda (4.2 km)
29 Oct 2004: Legarda - Recto (5.3 km)
05 July 2021: Santolan – Antipolo (3.8 km)

LRT2 LRT2 LRT2
 Line 3

16.9 km, 13 stations

MRT 3 (initially called Metrostar) runs elevated along EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Ave.) ring road (except Buendia station which is underground). Metrostar trains are air-conditioned.

16 Dec 1999 - MRT 3 - North Avenue - Buendia
20 July 2000 - MRT 3 - Buendia - Taft Avenue

MRT3 Metrostar MRT3 Metrostar MRT3 Metrostar MRT3 Metrostar

 Projects

LRT 2 - a western extension to the Divisoria market and port area is being examined.

LRT 1 extension south to Cavite (11.7 km) had been planned since approval in 2002, but postponed time and again. The first-phase stations are named (from Baclaran) Redemptorist, Manila International Airport (or MIA), Asia World, Ninoy Aquino, Dr. Santos, Manuyo Uno, Las Piñas, Zapote, Talaba, and Niog. Finally, construction contracts were signed in Sept 2014 with work belatedly commencing in May 2017. The first part of the extension to Dr. Santos is scheduled to open in 2024 with the full extension to Niog open in 2027. The extension will run on viaducts for 10.5 km, with the remaining 1.2 km at grade.

Further phases could take Line 1 southwards to Imus (11km) and later to Dasmariñas (11km).

Although initially planned as an MRT 3 extension, the gap between the two lines (Monumento - North) is now being built as a 5.7 km LRT 1 extension, with intermediate stations at Roosevelt and Balintawak. Although these two stations have been open since 2010, the missing section has not been completed

MRT 7 has been under construction since 2016 and will run northeast from North Avenue Station on MRT 3 along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City up to Tala in Caloocan City, and the adjoining municipality of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan (23 km, 14 stations).


- MRT 4 had been planned to become a 22.6 km (20 stations) mostly elevated line running northeast from Doroteo José/Recto in Manila to Quirino Highway in Novaliches (Quezon City) connecting with North Ave. Stn. on line 3 and passing through España, Quezon, Commonwealth and Regalado Avenues. The project was divided into two phases:
Phase 1: the section Old Bilibid - Batasan (15.1km) passing through España St., Quezon Blvd. and Commonwealth Ave. 14 stations: Old Bilibid, UST, Mendoza, Antipolo, Welcome Rotonda, Araneta, Roosevelt, Timog, Edsa, Quezon City Hall, Philcoa, Tandang Sora, Don Antonio and Batasan -> now being built as MRT 7.
Phase 2: Batasan - Quirino Highway in Lagro (7.5km). 36 light rail vehicles are proposed to operate, providing a capacity of 550,000 passengers per day. Instead of the phase 2 section, the mostly elevated MRT 9 has been proposed instead:

It would begin at the North-EDSA in Quezon City intersection and would be linked with the other MRT 3, MRT 7 and Light Rail Transit (LRT) North Extension. The line will traverse West Avenue and Quezon Avenue in Quezon City and would end in Manila via España. The MRT 9 will then be interconnected to LRT 2 in Recto and LRT 1 Central Terminal in Manila via the Quezon Boulevard route. This line will be extended to Intramuros Rizal Park up to Port Area. The MRT 9 stations include Baler, Timog, Roosevelt, Araneta, Welcome Rotonda Central Terminal, Antipolo (España), A.H. Lacson (España), Morayta, Quezon Boulevard (Quiapo), Taft Avenue (City Hall) and Rizal Park (Manila Hotel).

- MRT 8, or East Line, will traverse 48 km with several tunnel sections (7.8 km) from Pililla to Santa Cruz, Laguna. Phase 1 will run for 16.8 km on elevated double-track guideways from Santa Mesa, Manila, to Taytay, Rizal; then from Taytay to Angono, Rizal, serving to decongest Manila, Mandaluyong and Pasig, and the towns of Cainta, Taytay and Angono. It will follow the general alignment of Shaw Boulevard and Ortigas Avenue and entail construction of 14 stations.

The Philippine National Railway has begun work on converting track running through the city for use as an light rail transit corridor. The line will be electrified and would service the main train station Tutuban, connecting with LRT 1 at Blumentritt, the future MRT 4, LRT 2 (the alignment puts the station between Pureza and V. Mapa), and MRT 3 (between Boni and Guadalupe, though it is closer to Boni) and eventually to the Airport.

 

 PNR Southrail
The "Philippine National Railways" (PNR) Southrail is a commuter rail service that starts from Tutuban station in Manila up to Calamba station located south in Laguna province, for a total of 28 stations for 56 kilometers. The line has narrow gauge (1,067 mm) tracks. For the commuter rail service, the PNR Southrail uses a combination of 5-car ex-JR 203-series EMUs pulled by GE diesel locomotives, 3-car Hyundai Rotem DMUs and 3-car ex-JR KiHa 52 DMUs.
PNR PNR PNR
 Links

Light Rail Transit Authority - Official Site

MRT 3 - MetroRail Yellow Line - Official Site

LRT1 & LRT2 at Wikipedia

MRT3 at Wikipedia

2 interesting articles in Japan Railway & Transport Review (1998) by E. Razon and G.L. Satre (History)

MRT 7 Project

PNR (Philippine National Railways)

 

 

 

MAIL

2007 © Robert Schwandl (UrbanRail.Net)