Tuesday, August 19, 2008 LRTA extends hours of operation
IN A BID to provide Metro Manila residents with a safe and cheaper mode of transportation amid rising fuel prices, the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) on Monday announced the extension of operating hours of both Line 1 and 2 from 9:30 to 11 p.m. starting Tuesday.
In a press conference, LRTA Administrator Mel Robles said it was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s directive to extend the hours of operation, citing an increase in the daily ridership of the two lines.
Line 1 extends from Baclaran to Monumento, while Line 2 is from Recto to Santolan.
“This move will benefit those working at night and other people who usually go home late at night,” said Robles.
He said two years ago, the LRTA tried to implement the extension but claimed that it was not feasible due to the small number of commuters at wee hours of the night.
He said the increase in public utility vehicle (PUV) fares is a factor in the increase of the number of LRT riders, adding that the LRT Lines 1 and 2 can take on more passengers.
“The number of commuters drastically increased because high fuel prices are forcing people to use their private automobiles less,” Robles added.
LRTA records showed that in July 2008, an average of 400,000 people take the trains daily as an alternative mode of transport to their destination.
“The last time that LRT achieved this kind of numbers was December 1997,” Robles added.
But he said he could not give at the moment the exact figure on how much the LRTA can earn in the implementation of the new scheme.
In a related development, Robles said the queues onto the train platforms do not extend to the staircase, as had been reported.
“While it may be true for other carriers, overcrowding in the trains and that kind of queuing will not happen with our Line 2 system and is no longer the case for our Line 1 system after we had our capacity expansion,” he said.
Sixteen coaches run on Line 2 and can carry up to 730,240 passengers daily. On July 4, that line carried 219,995 people - the highest since the start of commercial operations in 2003.
Line 1 system has 139 coaches that can be configured into three- or four-car train combinations depending on passenger demand.
Line 1 is a 15-kilometer railway system running from Baclaran in Pasay City to Monumento in Caloocan City. It is considered to be the first LRT system in Southeast Asia.
Line 2 recorded a total of 4.51 million passengers in May, a 17.14-percent increase from the 3.85 million passengers in the same time last year.
“It can carry as much as 1,309,680 passengers per day or 38,520 persons per hour per direction,” Robles said referring to Line 1.
“The highest ridership count for the month was also on July 4, with 475,891 passengers. Even if our ridership for all line systems will increase by 50 percent, we can still absorb the additional passengers,” he added.
Robles said the authority had earlier predicted the surge in train commuters, which is why they hastened the rehabilitation of all inoperative trains. Some of those were out of service for 15 years.
He also pushed for the capacity expansion of Line 1 from 27,000 persons per hour per direction to 40,000 — or a total of 1,360,000 passengers per day — to cope with the present and future increase in passengers.
“Ridership capacity of the LRTA lines is unprecedented. It is in fact the biggest riding capacity. Our Line 1 is even poised to expand from Monumento to SM North Edsa (which closes the loop around Metro Manila) even without the need to acquire additional trainsets,” he said. (AH/Sunnex)
