LIGHT Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), the operator of Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT-1), aims to sustain daily ridership growth in 2024, its president said.
“It’s been increasing, it’s difficult to say [the exact growth] because there’s so many parameters but year on year, there is growth… it is improving,” Juan F. Alfonso, president and chief executive officer of LRMC, told reporters on the sidelines of a media briefing last week.
LRMC said LRT-1’s average daily ridership last year was between 350,000 and 370,000, while its pre-pandemic or 2019 level was around 450,000 daily.
Despite seeing the ridership figures bouncing back, Mr. Alfonso described the trend as growing at a slower pace from the previous levels.
Last year, the Transportation department approved fare hike adjustments for LRT-1 and LRT-2.
The approval of the Department of Transportation to implement a higher fare has somehow helped the company reach higher revenues for the year, Mr. Alfonso said.
Last week, the LRT-1 operator said the first phase of the Cavite extension is nearing completion as it hit 97% progress rate.
Once finished, the first phase of the LRT-1 Cavite extension will add a total of 6.2-kilometer line, connecting Baclaran Station in Pasay City to Dr. Santos Station in Parañaque City.
The company said securing the right of way for the second and third phase of the project is still a challenge.
“It is just the right-of-way process, it is always the challenge,” he added.
Earlier, the company said that the project’s 2027 target completion date will heavily depend on the right-of-way acquisition.
For now, Mr. Alfonso did not provide a clear timeline on whether the initial target would be met.
“We don’t have exact timelines yet and, of course, we are working with the government to try and make it happen,” he said.
LRMC is the joint venture of Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte Ltd. Metro Pacific Light Rail is a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is one of three Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT Inc. and Philex Mining Corp.
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