Pinoys Petition to Extend MRT and LRT Operating Hours

If you’ve been to another country like Singapore or Japan, you probably wished you had their train and subway systems back at home. Aside from having a lot of trains operating and arriving on the dot, they also run from early morning until around midnight. In the Philippines, both the Metro Rail Transit Line (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit Line (LRT) start their trip at 4:30 AM and end at 9:30 PM to 10 PM, still quite early for some folks burning the midnight oil at offices and schools.

You know what really doesn’t make sense here in Metro Manila? How the last rides of trains are between 8:30 to 10:30 PM.

In a city with so many call centers and night shift jobs!! And even w/o that context, that time range is way too early 😅

— Karen Sison (@_karensison) August 8, 2023

Karen Sison on X (formerly Twitter) voiced out her dismay at the MRT and LRT train schedules. “You know what really doesn’t make sense here in Metro Manila? How the last rides of trains are between 8:30 to 10:30 PM,” she posted.

“In a city with so many call centers and night shift jobs!! And even without that context, that time range is way too early,” she added.

Sison isn’t the first person to point out how badly Pinoys need these trains to extend their operating hours. But why do our train lines have to stop at 10 PM? Why can’t they run until midnight?

Why can’t MRT and LRT run until midnight?

Via Facebook: DOTr MRT-3

In 2014, then-Senate President Ralph Recto suggested running midnight trains, acknowledging that it will help hundreds of Filipinos. In 2019, MRT management submitted a similar study proposal. However, both requests didn’t push through because “the proposed extension of MRT’s operating hours would require additional hours for trained personnel, as well as additional electricity costs.”

According to Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista, both the MRT-3 and LRT-2 lines also can’t extend their operating hours since maintenance is usually done at night. “Historically, we are not extending train operations as it will affect the system’s maintenance schedule,” operators said.

LRT-2 operators mentioned that aside from that, fewer passengers also ride their trains beyond 7 PM until the last train at 9:30 PM.

Pinoys feel this is unfair

Sison’s post garnered 1.6 million views. Other Pinoys agreed with her and voiced their dismay online.

“Same thought, especially when I reported to office last week. At 9 PM, there are still a lot of commuters in the street, waiting for an available public transpo. Tapos LRT-2 nag-sasara [around] 10 PM. I went to Hiroshima and sobrang low ang ridership dun but up sila till midnight,” commented one.

“Ok naman na hindi 24 hours pero sana kahit hanggang 12 midnight,” said another.

Many Pinoys are also upset that train operations end earlier than concerts, games, classes, and even offices. Some even pointed out that trains usually shut down during Lent and Christmas, taking advantage of the holidays to do their repairs. These leave commuters with fewer (not to mention pricier) options to get around the city.

Meanwhile, others understood that Philippine transportation simply can’t make these big changes right now. “Operating expenses for trains are costly no justification if the threshold for passengers does not recuperate the cost of maintenance and power if we are to shift to night/graveyard schedule for trains,” said one.

“Makes sense naman, since hindi kasing-ganda ng sa ibang bansa yung LRT natin. It’s good na pinagpapahinga yung machineries sa gabi,” posted another.

Meanwhile, another joked that the classic movie Shake, Rattle, and Roll might be on to something:

Feeling ko talaga, totoo ito kaya hindi 24 hours ang operation ng MRT/LRT.

(Shake, Rattle & Roll VIII: LRT. Directed by Mike Tuviera, Regal Entertainment, 2006) https://t.co/RGBuoDSR2y pic.twitter.com/bZDyDqCWlf

— pau. (@pauppuccino) August 8, 2023