Subway of Manila

The Shackled Light Rail Transit System , popularly known like LRT , is the principal railway system serving the metropolitan zone of Manila to the Filipino . There are two lines: the LRT-1, called the yellow line, and the MRT-2, called the line violet. Although one referred with the system " Light subway " , undoubtedly because the network is mainly in height, the system is more similar to a system of Métro. LRT Shackled is the first system of subway in Southeast Asia, built before the Métro of Singapore three years before. The system is not attached to the Manila Subway Rail Transit System, or to the line blue, which forms a completely different but dependant system.

The LRT forms part of the infrastructure of the rail transport of the Subway of Manila, known like the Strong Republic Transit System (SRTS), and the whole of the system of public transport. Although one of the original objectives of the system was to reduce the congestion the traffic in the metropolis, many commuters who borrow the LRT take also many forms of public transport based on the road, such as the drunk , to reach a destination chosen starting from a station LRT and vice versa. Although this forms a complete system of transfort serving many parts of the subway of Manila, the system succeeded in only partially reducing the traffic congestion and times of way, which is worsened even more by the growing number of vehicles motorized in Manila. One is attacking the problem of the extension of the network which was preached by the successive administrations since the beginning of the LRT. The system is managed by Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), a company had and controlled by the government under the authority of the department of transport and the communications as an agency.

The network of the LRT

The LRT in itself consists of two lines: the yellow line and the line violet. The yellow line generally includes/understands eighteen stations North-South direction on 15 kilometers of ways complétemet in height. The line starts with Baclaran and finishes with Monumento. The line violet comprises 11 stations of East-West direction on 13,8 kilometers of mainly raised ways, with the station Katipunan located in basement. The line starts with Recto and finishes with Santolan. On the unit, the network includes/understands 29 stations out of 28,8 kilometers of ways, crossing through the towns of Caloocan, Manila, Marikina, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City and the municipality of San Juan.

Although only two stations exist like stations of correspondences between the yellow line and the line violet, namely, the stations Doroteo Jose and Recto, the stations Araneta Center-Cubao (marked like Cubao on a chart) and EDSA are also used as stations of correspondences between the network of the LRT and the blue line. The network has also six termini: Baclaran, Central Terminal and Monumento for the yellow line; and Recto, Araneta Center-Cubao and Santolan for the line violet. All these termini were conceived like hubs, where the correspondences can be carried out with other public transport.

The two lines are open 5:00 of the morning PST (UTC +8) until 21:30 for the yellow line and 20:00 H for the line violet. At the weekend, the line violet functions on shortened schedules of 6:00 hours of the morning until 20:00. Special schedules, if necessary, are announced via the Système AP in each station and on the Web site of the LRTA.

The LRT is open each day of the year except if the opposite is announced. However, the system is closed during the Holy Week for annual maintenance, owing to the fact that there is less of commuters in the subway of Manila who borrow it, and also because of less automobile obstructions. The normal operations begin again after the Easter Sunday.

History

The roots of the LRT go back to the period of American colonization. In 1905, the first Tram, or tram, was in circulation with Manila and extended soon to five lines serving from many parts of the town of Manila and its suburbs. The trams were greeted like an effective system for the 220.000 inhabitants of the city. The trams were managed by the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (Meralco). The current network of the LRT follows the ways of two of the old lines of the tram.

The circulation of the tram was stopped during the Second world war. After the war, the city was practically destroyed, icompris the tram. Manila was the second city after Warsaw to suffer the most damage.

The Jeepney coloured started again the bonds of transport in Manila after the war. Soon, the drunk and the Automobile S were of return in the streets of Manila. The suburban trains managed by the Filipino National Railways (PNR) were also given in circulation. The problem, however, was the obstructions and the ignorance of the rules of circuation.

In 1966, the government of Philippines, recognizing the need for an effective transport system of mass, granted a Filipino franchise with Monorail Transport Systems with an aim of starting a system of Monorail in the city. Before the project could not even start, one asked the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) to make a study of transport. Its studies proposed a series of circular and radial roads, a system of subway, a station of correspondence, and a highway with three ways. A thorough study was made to implement these systems. Many recommendations were installation, but none implied a subway.

Another study, control of 1976 to 1977, by Freeman, Fox & Associates and financed by the the World Bank, suggested a system of rail on the level of the street. The ministry for transport and the communications lately formed (maintaining DOTC) revives then the recommendations, which required a system in height because of the many intersections of the city. The revised recommendation, however, increased the price of the project of 1.5 billion pesos to 2 billion pesos. An additional study was undertaken by another foreign company and was carried out in less than three months.

The July 12th, 1980, the president Ferdinand Marcos created the Light Rail Transit Authority under the terms of the executive order No 603, which was thereafter amended two years later, and again in 1987. The person in charge of the LRTA lately formed was the governor of the Métropolitain of Manila, the Minister for human displacement and the First Lady, Imelda Marcos. The LRTA was responsible for all the operations of the LRT of Manila but was confined mainly with the installation and the regulation of the tariffs, planning the extensions, and fixing the rules and the policy of the LRT. This new project carried out by the LRTA became known like the " Metrorail" (the yellow line) was managed by a sister company of the Meralco called Metro, Inc.

The initial assistance for the project came from a preferential Prêt of the Belgian government of a sum of three hundred million pesos. Seven hundred million pesos additional came from a consortium of companies including/understanding Ateliers of Electrical engineerings of Charleroi (ACEC) and BN Constructions Railway and Metal (these two companies form now part of Bombardier Transportation), Tractionnel Engineering International (TEI) and Transurb Consult (TC). The consortium provided all which the system needed, since the trains until the necessary formation. Although one expected that the system was financed its incomes in less than twenty years of exploitation, one estimated that it would lose money at least until 1993. Compared to a profit hoped of 365 million pesos on during its first year of exploitation, the loss was estimated at 216 million.

… The construction of what one calls today the yellow line began in October 1981 with Construction and the Development D ela Corporatoin of Philippines (maintaining to the Filipino National Construction Corporation) with the assistance of Losinger, a company Suisse, and a Philippaine subsidiary company of Dravo, an American company . The government indicated Electrowatt Engineering Services of Zurich to supervise construction and finally became responsible for the studies for extension for future projects. During construction, the company opened offices in Manila and finally prévoya a network with 150 kilometers of roads the length of all the corridors in twenty years. The network under consideration by Electrowatt largely starting from the bases for the plans of extension current.

The LRT was initially tested under operation in March 1984 with first half of the line, of Baclaran to Central Terminal, officially was opened with the public on December 1st, 1984. The second half, of Final Exchange with Monumento, was open on May 12th, 1985.

After a few years of exploitation, a strong influence and intense use finally rang the knell on the LRT. In 1990, for example, the yellow line fell so far in bad repair because of a premature wear of the trains…

Projects

See too

List of the stations of the subway of Manila (MRT LRT)
Transport in Philippines

Sources

External bonds

Site of the owner
Urbanrail.net - Manila on Urbanrail

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