By means of Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter
Commuters in Metro Manila pay higher rates for the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) from 2 April after the Department of Transportation (DOTR) has approved a new tariff matrix.
In a letter of 14 February, but published on Tuesday, the DOTR said it was the petition of Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) had approved for adjustments in the LRT-1 rate matrix.
The letter was signed by Transport Unders Secretary for Railways Jeremy S. Regino.
From 2 April, the entry rate will be increased to P16.25 from P13.29, while the distance per kilometer rate will be increased to P1.47 from P1.21.
Based on the approved rate matrix, the maximum rate for an end-to-end trip with a few journey will increase with P10 to P55 from P45. This will cover the journey from the FPJ station (formerly Roosevelt) in Quezon City to Baclaran Station in Pasay City, including the last station of the Cavite Extension phase 1.
In the meantime, saved value card holders P9 will pay more for the end-to-end journey, so that the rate is brought to P52.
The approved rate is lower than LRMC’s proposal to increase the end-to-end trip rate to P60 for single-journey tickets and P58 for stored value cards.
LRMC President and Chief Executive Officer Enrico R. Benipayo said the company is grateful for the approval of new rates.
“In the past 10 years of serving and maintaining the 40-year railway line, this is only the second time that LRMC has allowed tariff adjustments for LRT-1,” he said in a statement.
The private operator took over LRT-1 from Light Rail TranSit Authority (LRTA) in 2015.
The company said that the newly approved tariff matrix, which is lower than his petition, is the same as being Petition rate adjustment in 2022.
According to its concession agreement, the private operator can look for a rate adjustment once every two years. Mr. Benipayo has previously said that the approved rate in 2023 is still far below the fictional rate and has resulted in a target deficit of P2.17 billion.
“Public transport is a service that requires continuous investments in maintenance, upgrades and expansion. Countries with world -class transport systems such as Singapore and Japan regularly adjust the rates to keep services efficient and safe. We are grateful to our partners in the government for their support to ensure that we can support the necessary upgrades, “said Mr. Benipayo.
LRMC repeated that the substantial operational improvements and systemupgrades for LRT-1 has made, including the completion of phase 1 of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension last year. The second and third phases of the construction of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension can start next year as problems with just acquisition.
“Since then, LRMC has introduced new trains, station -upgrades and better service efficiency,” said Mr. Benipayo.
He also justified the tariff adjustment because LRMC also improved the Cyclus Time of LRT-1 improved the average time for a train to complete an end-to-end trip-of 106 minutes or almost two hours to 91 minutes in 2024.
Rene S. Santiago, former President of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines, said that the approval of the LRT-1 rise rise is a necessary step because the government must comply with its obligations under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) deal.
“(This) paves the way for more PPP tenders in the future. More than that, all public transport, bus, jeepney-earning long-term tariff adjustments, “he said in a vugar message.
In the meantime, Renato M. Reyes, Jr., Secretary-General of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said that they are not surprised by the approval of the rate increase.
He called for an overview of the concession agreement of the private operator with which they can adjust the rates every two years.
In a statement, Transport Group Piston National President Mody T. Floranda mentioned the rate increase unjustified and would harm the bags of ordinary Filipin’s.
LRMC is a joint venture from 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., one of the three Filipino subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others are PLDT Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit, a unity. Van PLDT favorable Trust Funde subsidiary Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in Business world Via the Philippine Star Group, which checks it.