Abaya: LRT/MRT fare hike unlikely for rest of Noy term

A fare increase in any of Metro Manila’s three elevated train lines is unlikely for the remaining months of President Benigno Aquino III’s term, Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said Thursday.

The Cabinet official allayed concerns over a possible fare hike on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 because of the shortfall between present rates and what is required under a contract with its private sector concessionaire that wants to take over next month.

“Clearly there will be no fare hike because the government is in a position to pay that difference off,” Abaya told reporters at a media briefing on the status of the rehabilitation of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3.

He said any decision to adjust fares for LRT 1 and 2 and MRT would be made by “the next secretary” of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

The agency implemented a fare hike for all three lines on Jan. 5 this year, a move met with protests and criticism given the problematic train service particularly on the MRT. The increase brought the maximum MRT fare to P28 or double the previous level, P30 on LRT 1, and P25 for LRT 2.

LRT 1 operations, however, are set to be turned over to Light Rail Manila Consortium, a venture between Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp.

Light Rail Manila won the right to operate and expand LRT 1 in a P65-billion public private partnership deal in 2014.

Under the deal, the consortium will operate and maintain the existing line and construct an 11.7-km extension from the present endpoint in Baclaran, Paranaque City, to the Niog area in Bacoor, Cavite province.

Earlier this week, Metro Pacific president Jose Ma. Lim told reporters that the fare hike on LRT 1 was still about 10 percent short of what was committed under the concession agreement. This was one of the issues that must be resolved before they assume operations of LRT 1, he added.

Meanwhile, AF Payments Inc., a venture between Ayala and Metro Pacific implementing a tap-and-go payment system for the three train lines, said LRT 1 will stop selling magnetic cards on Aug. 8.

The so-called Beep cards, which aim to provide a service similar to Hong Kong’s Octopus platform, are already available in all stations at LRT 2.

AF Payments said it plans to roll out the Beep card system on all three train systems in September.