Ticket vending machines (TVM) at Metro Manila’s three railway transit systems will start accepting newly-designed P1 and P5 coins starting March this year.
AF Payments Inc. (AFPI), which manages the unified ticketing system of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2 as well as Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, announced it has began calibrating the TVMs to accept the new coin designs.
As the calibration remains in the process, AFPI advised commuters not to insert the new coins into the TVMs to avoid any inconvenience.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) started circulating the new coin designs late 2017.
“The calibration work will be conducted in Germany where the supplier of the coin acceptor unit used in the machines is based. AFPI’s partner in Germany is one of the leading suppliers of vending machine coin acceptors in the world,” AFPI said in a statement on Friday.
“Taking into consideration any unforeseen delays in the process, the new coins are expected to be usable at all TVMs across the three elevated railways this March,” AFPI said.
READ: MRT, LRT ticket machines won’t accept newly designed
Commuters may also purchase single journey tickets and stored value cards using new coins through tellers at any LRT or MRT station, AFPI added.
Newly-designed coins may also be replaced for old ones at any teller of the station, it said. /jpv