LRT-1: New coins compatible with TVMs by March 2018

FOLLOWING the release of new coins by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), LRT-1 operator Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) in a statement last week said its Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) have yet to be reconfigured for the new designs and advised the public to double-check their five peso coins to avoid inconvenience. Passengers may exchange their new coins with old ones through the station tellers, LRMC said. The statement also said that AF Payments, Inc. (AFPI), the concessionaire of Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) and supplier of the TVMs, has started working on the required calibration of the firmware of its TVMs to process the new five peso coins. The procedure will be conducted in Germany and will take approximately three months before the updated firmware can be deployed in the TVMs. The five peso coins now in circulation are expected to be compatible with the existing TVMs by March 2018.