By Emmie V. Abadilla
Engineering Director Wencelso Villavicencio (right) explains to Tokyo Metro International Relations Department Head Takihiro Tanisaka and Rolling Stock Department Manager Tomohisa Ogino the improvements done in LRT-1 since LRMC took over in 2015.
The largest train operator in Japan, Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd., recently lauded Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) for “doing well to improve and maintain one of Metro Manila’s major transport, LRT-1.”
Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd., a stock company under privatization currently owned by the Japanese government and the Tokyo metropolitan government, operates Tokyo Metro, a rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan and is one of the busiest metro transit in the world with an average daily ridership of 7.42 million passengers.
Company officials recently did a site tour of the LRT-1 system.
“LRT-1 has improved so much in such a short period,” observed Takahiro Tanisaka, Tokyo Metro’s Senior Manager for International Relations. The employees are “competent and well-trained.”
Since assuming operations in 2015, LRMC has embarked on significant improvements amounting to R7.5 billion, including replacement of 26 kilometers of rails, station improvement, and rehabilitation of trains.
These resulted in increased train availability at 109 cars as of end-March 2018 vs 100 in March 2017, more trips from 505 in March 2017 to 554 trips in March 2018, zero failure notice on train availability, punctuality and reliability KPIs.
Daily average passenger volume increased four percent year on year in Q1 daily ridership to 459,400 passengers.
LRMC is a joint venture company of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation’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).