mike in manila - day scape

Here are a few "Travel tips" for a city on the move - getting around in more than the ussaul ways!

first is if time is an urgent issue there are rapid transit networks to get you from manila to queson city- options not often mentioned in the tourist maps but effective forms of transportation are the metro train systems now three of them that run most of the day starting at about 5:30 AM and run til about 9:00 pm




Costs is minimal but if you have to get from say Manila - to the financail districts of ortigas and or Makati - they remain your est option. two lines offer fast transits - the older LRT line and the newer MRT.

They make getting around in Manila is something you can do easily by day But you have to plan for very well.

peak hours resemble tokyo subways and you need shoe horn to fit into some of the cars.

Women and children and the elderly do have special cars ussaully the first cars reserved for them.

The newest line cuts east to west from Manila to near the two major university campous of Ateneo and UP and is a short taxi ride to shoe capital of the Philippines and many say the world Marikina.

The LRT-1 fleet is undergoing modernization as it copes with increasing ridership. The trains now have an increased capacity of 1350 passengers

The original two-car trains could hold 748 passengers while the modified three-car trains could hold 1122 passengers, air conditioning for the original fleet, and technical repairs.

It runs through a older part of the capital and is somewhat run down although constantly being upgraded the some incidents where the trains have suffered some delays. but overall it is well run and maintained and a effective way to reach the makati bound system or MRT.

The LRT-2 fleet runs four-car trains which have a capacity of 1622 passengers, 272 more than LRT-1. The fleet also came with air-conditioning and is also fully automatic. Also, LRT-2 trains are more disabled-friendly and are more convenient to use for elderly passengers than the trains of LRT-1.

The MRT system is operated by the Metro Rail Transit Corporation, a private company operating in conjunction with the Department of Transportation and Communications.

The LRT is government run and operated.

MRT-3 (Blue Line)

• Monumento (proposed, connects with LRT-1)
• Balintawak (proposed)
• Roosevelt (proposed)
• North Avenue
• Quezon Avenue
• GMA-Kamuning
• Araneta Center-Cubao (connects with LRT-2)
• Santolan-Annapolis
• Ortigas Avenue
• Shaw Boulevard
• Bonifacio Avenue
• Guadalupe
• Buendia
• Ayala
• Magallanes
• Taft Avenue (connects with LRT-1 at Taft Avenue)

The following are the stations for LRT lines.

LRT-1 (Yellow Line)

• Monumento (transfer with MRT-3 when MRT-3 extension is finished)
• 5th Avenue
• R. Papa
• Abad Santos
• Blumentritt
• Tayuman
• Bambang
• Doroteo Jose (transfer with LRT-2)
• Carriedo
• Central Terminal
• United Nations
• Pedro Gil
• Quirino Avenue
• Vito Cruz
• Gil Puyat
• Libertad
• EDSA (transfer with MRT-3)
• Baclaran

LRT-2 (Purple Line)

• Recto (transfer with LRT-1)
• Legarda
• Pureza
• V. Mapa
• J. Ruiz
• Gilmore
• Betty Go-Belmonte
• Araneta Center-Cubao (transfer with MRT-3)
• Anonas
• Katipunan
• Santolan

Note: graphics and pics coutesy of Wilkpedia

// posted by MikeCohen-at-large @ 5:45 AM