History

On July 12, 1980, the country’s president, Ferdinand E. Marcos, created the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) as a government agency.

The Chairman was the then First Lady and Governor of Metro Manila, Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

This LRTA confined its activities to determining policies, to the regulation and fixing of fares, and to the planning of extensions to the system. The project was called Metrorail and was operated by a sister company of the former tramway company Meralco, called Metro, Inc.

Construction of the LRT Line 1 started in September 1981.

The line was test-run in March 1984, and the first half of LRT-1, from Baclaran to Central Terminal, was opened on December 1, 1984. The second half, from Central Terminal to Monumento, was opened on May 12, 1985.

Overcrowding and poor maintenance took its toll a few years after opening. The premature ageing of LRT-1 led to an extensive refurbishing and structural capacity expansion program with a help of Japan’s ODA.

With Japan’s ODA amounting to 75 billion yen in total, the construction of the LRT Line 2 began in the 1990s, and the first section of the line, from Santolan to Araneta Center-Cubao, was opened on April 5, 2003.The second section, from Araneta Center-Cubao to Legarda, was opened exactly a year later, with the entire line being fully operational by October 29, 2004. During that time the LRT-1 was modernized. Automated fare collection systems using magnetic stripe plastic tickets were installed; air-conditioned trains added; pedestrian walkways between Lines 1, 2, and MRT-3 Lines completed.