Manila Metro Rail Transit System

Manila Metro Rail Transit System
MRT Line 3 in 2024
Overview
Owner	Government of the Philippines
Area served	Metro Manila Central Luzon
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	1 (operational) 2 (under construction) 8 (planned)
Number of stations	13 (present) 145 (planned)
Operation
Began operation	December 15, 1999; 25 years ago (1999-12-15)
Operator(s)	Philippine Department of Transportation San Miguel Corporation
Rolling stock	MRTC 3000 class and MRTC 3100 class Light rail vehicles
Number of vehicles	120 vehicles (operational)
Train length	3-8 cars
Headway	3.5–4 minutes
Technical
System length	16.9 km (10.5 mi) (operational) 373 km (232 mi) (planned)
No. of tracks	Double-track railway
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius of curvature	Mainline: 160–370 m (520–1,210 ft) Depot: 28–100 m (92–328 ft)
Electrification	Overhead lines (Lines 3 & 9) Conductor rail (Line 7)
Average speed	45 km/h (28 mph) (line3)
Top speed	60 km/h (37 mph) (line3)

Class 3000 at North Avenue turn back siding

The Manila Metro Rail Transit System (MRTS), commonly known as the MRT among Manilans, is a rapid transit system that primarily serves Metro Manila in the Philippines. Along with the Manila Light Rail Transit System and the Metro Commuter Line of the Philippine National Railways, the system makes up Metro Manila's rail transport infrastructure. The MRT serves an average daily ridership of 357,198, and an estimated annual ridership of 129,030,158 from a 2023 report.^[1]

Early planning

During the construction of the first line of the Manila Light Rail Transit System (LRT) in the early 1980s, Electrowatt Engineering Services of Zürich designed a comprehensive plan for a metro service in Metro Manila. The plan — still used as the basis for planning new metro lines — consisted of a 150-kilometer (93 mi) network of rapid transit lines spanning all major corridors within 20 years.^[2] The study integrated two studies in the 1970s which recommended the construction of five heavy rail lines in Metro Manila, and another study in 1977 which was used as the basis for Manila's LRT Line 1.^[3]

Network

There is currently one light rail metro line in operation and three heavy rail lines under construction. There are proposals to extend the system, with at least 49 stations across 124.4 kilometers (77.3 mi) of track. Awaiting approvals are for MRT Lines 8, 10^[4][5] and 11.^[6] A further proposal is for a circumferential–radial network for MRT Line 7.^[7]

Line	Termini		Stations	Type	Length	Ref.
Line 3 (1999)	North Avenue	Taft Avenue	13	Light metro	16.9 km (10.5 mi)	[8]
Line 7 (projected 2027)[9]	North Triangle Common Station	San Jose Del Monte	14	Heavy rail	22.8 km (14.2 mi)	[10][11]
Line 4 (projected 2028)[12]	EDSA station	Taytay	10	Heavy rail[13]	15.5 km (9.6 mi)	[14]
Subway (projected 2029)[15]	East Valenzuela	Bicutan	15	Heavy rail	36 km (22 mi)	[16]
Lines and stations in italics are either under construction, not yet operational, or have been closed.

References

1. MRT-3 served around 357K passengers a day in 2023: DOTr | ABS-CBN News
2. "Light Rail Transit Authority Company History". Light Rail Transit Authority. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
3. Jose, Ricardo; Mabazza, Daniel; Lagman, Marco Stefan; Villasper, Jonathan. "Planning Metro Manila's Mass Transit System" (PDF). University of the Philippines Diliman. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 20, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
4. Ordinario, Cai (October 1, 2018). "NEDA reviews proposal for MRT 10, 2 other infrastructureprojects". BusinessMirror. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
5. "C5 MRT 10 Project". Public-Private Partnership Center. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
6. "MRT-11 project". www.ppp.gov.ph. Public-Private Partnership Center. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
7. de Vera, Ben O. (November 18, 2019). "Tycoons' unsolicited PPP projects bolster "Build, Build, Build"". Inquirer.net. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
8. "Timeline: LRT, MRT construction". The Philippine Star. July 19, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
9. Cordero, Ted (May 24, 2024). "MRT-7 hits nearly 70% progress rate — DOTr". GMA News Online. Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
10. Cruz, Neal. (November 14, 2007). "MRT 7 may end Metro traffic problems". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
11. "Marubeni to build $1B Philippine rail project". Inquirer.net. Agence France-Presse. May 15, 2012.
12. Camus, Miguel (4 October 2021). "DOTr reveals MRT 4 will be a monorail project, targets full operations by 2028". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
13. PROJECT DESCRIPTION FOR SCOPING (PDF). Manila MRT L4 (Report). September 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
14. Flores, Mikhail Franz E. (June 16, 2015). "Major infrastructure projects lined up". BusinessWorld. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
15. Mercurio, Richmond (April 19, 2022). "Metro Manila subway partial opening moved to 2025 – DOTr". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
16. "DOTr eyes Feb. 27 Metro Manila subway launch". Manila Bulletin News. February 16, 2019. Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.