The Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 1 is the first metro line of the Manila Light Rail Transit System. Presently, the line contains twenty stations and runs on {{convert|19.65|km|mi|sp=us}}^[7] of fully elevated route. The line is colored yellow (old) and green (new) on all railway maps.

The line runs in a general north-south direction from Baclaran to Monumento; then, it runs in an east-west direction from Monumento to North Avenue, linking the cities of Quezon City, Caloocan, Manila, Pasay, and Parañaque. Passengers can transfer to the Line 2 at Doroteo Jose station, while passengers can transfer to the Line 3 at EDSA station and in the future at North Avenue station.

The Line 1 was known for many names such as LRT Line 1, shortened to LRT-1, Yellow Line, Green Line (2012), or the Metrorail. However, the yellow color of the line dates back to its opening in 1984.

On October 12, 2014, Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), a joint venture company of Metro Pacific's Metro Pacific Light Rail Corporation (MPLRC), Ayala Corporation’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation (AC Infra), and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd.(MIHPL), signed a concession agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) for the operation and maintenance of Line 1 and the construction of a PhP 65 billion extension project to Bacoor, Cavite.^[8][9] LRMC, in turn, contracted the operation and maintenance of the line for 20 years to RATP Dev under its subsidiary RATP Dev Transdev Asia, a joint venture between Transdev and RATP Dev.^[10][11]. The 32-year concession started on September 12, 2015.

History

• December 1, 1984: Baclaran to United Nations
• May 12, 1985: Central Terminal to Monumento
• March 22, 2010: Balintawak
• October 22, 2010: Roosevelt

Technical specifications

• Name: Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 1
• Concession holder: Light Rail Manila Corporation
• Operator: Light Rail Manila Corporation
• Length: 19.65 km + 11.7 km (Cavite Extension)
• Concession starting date: 2015
• Concession ending date: 2047
• Stations: 20 + 8 (Cavite extension)

Route

The Line 1 is predominantly aligned to the path of Taft Avenue (Radial Road 2), which was chosen largely due to its straight length. Later on, as Taft Avenue ends, it shifts to Rizal Avenue and Rizal Avenue Extension (Radial Road 9) then turning right at EDSA or Circumferential Road 4 (C-4 Road) before ending at the corner of North and West Avenues and EDSA.

Stations

The line serves 20 stations along its route. A twenty-first station is yet to be constructed.^[12] Eight stations, which are part of the Line 1 South Extension Project, are also set to be constructed south of Baclaran.

A previously proposed station, {{stn|Malvar}} station in Caloocan, was proposed during the construction of the northern extension, and became a barganing object during its construction, and has since been shelved by the current administration.

Rolling stock

The line at various stages in its history has used a two-car, three-car, and four-car trainsets. The two-car trains are the original first-generation BN and ACEC trains (railway cars numbered from 1000). Most were transformed into three-car trains, although some two-car trains remain in service. The four-car trains are the more modern second-generation Hyundai Precision and Adtranz (1100) and third-generation Kinki Sharyo / Nippon Sharyo (1200) trains.^[13][13] There are 139 railway cars grouped into 40 trains serving the line: 63 of these are first-generation cars, 28 second-generation, and 48 third-generation. One train car (1037) was severely damaged in the Rizal Day bombings and was subsequently decommissioned.^[14][15] The maximum speed of these cars is 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph).^[16][17]

The line fleet's is being modernized to cope with increasing numbers of passengers. In the initial phase of its capacity expansion program completed in 1999, the line's seven four-car second-generation trains were commissioned providing an increased train capacity of 1,350 passengers while the original two-car trains capable of holding 748 passengers were transformed into three-car trains with room for 1,122.^[18]

The acquisition marked the introduction of the first air-conditioned trains to the line. Earlier rolling stock was notorious for its lack of air conditioning, relying instead on forced-air roof ventilation for cooling.^[19] Unfortunately, this resulted in hot and stuffy rides. The problem was addressed more fully after a preparatory rehabilitation program completed in 2001 allowed the installation of air conditioners to the older rolling stock.^[20] By June 2004, all Yellow Line trains had air conditioning.^[21][22]

As part of the second phase of expansion on the Yellow Line, 12 new trains made in Japan by Kinki Sharyo and provided by the Manila Tren Consortium were shipped in the third quarter of 2006 and went into service in the first quarter of 2007. The new air-conditioned trains have boosted the capacity of the line from 27,000 to 40,000 passengers per hour per direction.^[13][23][24]

As of recent, the original trainsets are undergoing a body repaint and repair to address body issues and put it at par with its newer trains in terms of aesthetics. However, a majority of the second-generation trains are currently not operational due to various issues such as air-conditioning and propulsion issues, now a subject of an extensive rehabilitation program^[25]. 4 of the coaches in the third-generation trains currently out of service is most likely the trainset that figured in the train collision in Roosevelt station.

LRMC has also built an in-house laboratory for production, manufacturing, fabrication and repair of train parts that are no longer available in the market.

A New Rolling Stock is awarded to the Mitsubishi Corporation and manufacturing partner CAF, together with JICA valued at P64.9 billion for 120 cars, or 30 train sets, to the line, in order to cover it's Cavite Extension, and able to service more passengers. The Train Sets will be delivered from 2020 to 2022. ^{[26] [27]}

The Passenger Assist Railway Display System, a passenger information system powered by LCD screens installed near the ceiling of the train that shows news, advertisements, current train location, arrivals and station layouts, are already installed in the Trains, along with the Line 2 and the Line 3.

^[18][22][28]

Ridership

The ridership of the line reaches from 300,000 passengers daily, to as much as 500,000 passengers daily due to increased number of trains, as well as reduced waiting time of passengers, ^{[29] [30]} having as much as 14.63 million passengers monthly, ^[31] and aims to increase the number of passengers riding the line to 800,000 as the Cavite extension is set to be finished in 2021. ^[32]

Plans

South Extension Phase 1 (Line 1 South Extension)

A south extension of Line 1, also known as the South Extension Project or the Cavite Extension Project in the Metro Manila Rail Plans has been proposed and would aim to serve the areas of Parañaque to Cavite. Such an extension would take Quirino Avenue (Road from Parañaque to Bacoor) then would travel on the side of Seaside Drive to the Coastal Road, and from there would travel down the side of Kabihasnan street to Quirino Avenue (again) to its extension, General Emilio Aguinaldo Avenue from the Las Pinas-Bacoor Boundary of Zapote Bridge to Niog. The extension would add 8 stations over some {{convert|11.7|km|mi|sp=us}} of new line and would be the third rail line extending outside the Metro Manila area (after the east extension of Line 2 and the construction of Line 7).

An unsolicited bid to conduct this work from Canada's SNC-Lavalin was rejected by the Philippine government in 2005. In 2006, the government worked with advisers (International Finance Corporation, White & Case, Halcrow and others) to conduct an open-market invitation to tender for the extension and for a 30-year concession to run the extended line. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo subsequently withdrew the project.

The Line 1 South Extension Project will consist of the following eight stations:

• Redemptorist – Parañaque
• Manila International Airport – Parañaque
• Asia World – Parañaque
• Ninoy Aquino – Parañaque
• Dr. A. Santos – Parañaque
• Las Piñas – Las Piñas
• Zapote – along the boundaries of Bacoor and Las Piñas
• Niog – Bacoor

On May 4, 2017, the groundbreaking for the South Extension Project was held.^[33] DOTr secretary Arthur Tugade projected the early completion of the project to be by 2020.^[34][35]

The line would be extended from Parañaque southwards, connecting Las Piñas and Bacoor to the Mega Manila railway network. The actual construction is expected to start in April 2019 once the obstructions in Right-of-way are removed. The actual construction starts from Baclaran to Sucat. The extension from Baclaran to Niog, Bacoor, Cavite will be finished by fourth quarter of 2021.

South Extension Phase 2 (Line 6)

Another extension of the line in Cavite has been proposed. It will be extended by another {{convert|19|km|mi}} from Bacoor to Dasmariñas with a right-of-way alignment along Aguinaldo Highway. This public-private partnership project dubbed as Line 6, it would have 6 additional stations in Cavite.

The 6 stations of the proposed South Extension Phase 2 are composed of:

• Tirona – Bacoor
• Imus – Imus
• Daang Hari – Imus
• Salitran – Dasmariñas
• Congressional Avenue – Dasmariñas
• Governor's Drive – Dasmariñas

Incidents and accidents

Terrorism

Rizal Day bombings

On Rizal Day in the year 2000, a Yellow Line train (Car number 1037) exploded near Blumentritt station as part of a series of explosions in a terrorist attack known as the Rizal Day bombings. The attack on the line killed some 22 people and injured hundreds. Eight members of both Jemaah Islamiyah and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which include Hambal, Asia's most wanted man, and Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi, were charged with plotting and masterminding the attacks in 2003, some three years after the attacks. Three suspects were put on trial,^[36][37] with al-Ghozi receiving 17 years in prison due to the illegal possession of explosives. Al-Ghozi later died in a firefight after attempting to escape from prison. Car number 1037 is currently decommissioned, but there are plans to reconstruct it.

Suicides and births

The line also witnessed several cases of suicides and suicide attempts, including one case involving a fisherman, who soon died, a 41-year-old woman, who survived, and a man, who jumped from the 26th floor of a condominium building and was subsequently crushed by a southbound train.^{[38][39][40][41]} The line also witnessed births involving women who were heading towards hospitals accessible through the line, and the first case recorded occurred on May 5, 2005, involving a woman named Lea Aquino Ababa, from Pasay.^[42][43]

Fires

Fires, mostly occurring near the line, also caused service disruptions on the Line 1 on several instances.

• Train operations from Central Terminal to Baclaran were temporarily suspended after a fire in a residential area in Pasay City forced the suspension of operations due to the proximity of one of the burning buildings to Libertad station. Operations from Central Terminal to Monumento still operated as scheduled. Full service was restored after the fire was controlled.^[44]
• Train operations to and from Baclaran were suspended because of a fire at the Baclaran Galleria shopping mall that started at around 5:00 am. Until noontime the fire was still spreading to nearby establishments, and flames even started to encroach entrance of the station. Earlier the station had to be closed because of the thick smoke coming from the fire.^[45]
• Train operations were limited from Monumento to Gil Puyat when fire broke out in a 4-story Puregold commercial building beside Libertad station at around 2:00 am. Normal operations resumed in the afternoon after the fire was controlled.^[46]

Train Malfunctions

Unlike Line 3 that has been virtually crippled due to poor maintenance, the line has seldom train malfunctions and has been mostly functional; however, occasional malfunctions such as line glitches limiting station travels, train malfunctions such as train doors being open while running, 'code yellow' and 'code red', cases where whole trainsets bog down in the middle of a revenue run have been reported sporadically.

See also

• Metro Manila Rapid Transit
  • Line 2
  • Line 3
  • Line 4
  • Line 5
  • Line 6
  • Line 7
  • Line 8
  • Line 9
  • PNR Metro Commuter Line
• List of rail transit stations in the Greater Manila Area
• Manila Light Rail Transit System
• Metro Rail Transit Corporation
• Philippine National Railways
• Department of Transportation (DOTr)
• Transportation in the Philippines

References

External links

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140714152448/http://www.lrta.gov.ph/line_1_system.php The Line 1 System]
• Light Rail Manila Corporation