MRT v. LRT: A Comparison of What Is It Like to Ride Both
The Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transport (LRT) are transportation stables for many Filipinos living in Metro Manila. Who would forget the MRT with its iconic blue-clad trains? Or the LRT with its iconic yellow-clad trains?
Beyond the iconic looks of their trains, both MRT and LRT serve multitude of Filipinos from all walks of life as a daily transportation commodity that let them get from point A to B in the shortest time possible. Sure, the MRT and LRT are slowly neglected by the government over the years, but nonetheless, many Filipinos rely on their service since they somehow remain as the fastest way to reach different parts of Metro Manila.
MRT is differentiated by LRT by the color of the trains. MRT trains are painted blue. Interestingly, the official name of MRT is MRT-3, which was due to the continuation of the naming scheme from LRT-1 and LRT-2 — basically, MRT is LRT-3. There are 13 stations served by the MRT — starting from North Avenue Station in the northern end of Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA), plying through the whole EDSA, and finally ending on Taft Avenue Station in the southern end.
LRT trains, on the other hand, are painted yellow. LRT, as mentioned above, is divided into two: LRT-1, and LRT-2. LRT-1 was constructed during the tenure of President Ferdinand Marcos, and it has 19 stations along Taft Avenue. It begins with the Baclaran Station in the south and ends with the Roosevelt Station in the north. Meanwhile, LRT-2 has 11 stations where trains ply westward from Santolan Station to Recto Station.
The question is: why did I ride all of the trains? It is a well-known fact that these trains are always crowded up to the point that every wagon is like a can of sardines — except that it is not sardines, but people. Despite the crowded trains, many Filipinos retreat to riding on LRT or MRT — after all, this is the fastest way to get from point A to B in Metro Manila, since most roads are jammed with cars. So, it would be a little bit weird to say that the reason for riding either the LRT or the MRT is for experience and fun. And yes, that is my primary reason for riding these trains.
But before you dismiss as simply wasting time trying to ride all the trains for experience and for fun, let me tell you how hard it could be to travel by bus every week from Cubao to Batangas. Yes, you could be sitting there while the cars in EDSA slowly proceed in the traffic. However, you have to endure cramped legs, buttocks, and back if you are sitting on the bus for almost 3 hours (6 hours if you really are unfortunate). This is the truth: the traffic in EDSA is so worse that getting from Cubao to Magallanes will take you a mere 2 hours.
Another factor for riding LRT or MRT is the difficulty of riding a bus that will take me directly home. I live in Tanauan City, Batangas yet there is no single bus terminal in Cubao which have the option of a Lipa-Tanauan route. As such, I would have to ride a Lucena-bound bus, then ride a jeepney to reach home.
After considering the factors for riding LRT and MRT, I decided to do it. And yes, I have made it alive. The experience was both eye-opening and awe-inspiring. Of course, I could not help but compare the experience of riding both LRT and MRT— so here I am, writing about my experience and my comparison for the both.
Before I could write my experience and my comparison, let me tell you how I rode the LRT and MRT. When I spoke of my experience about riding the LRT, I am both referring to LRT-1 and LRT-2, since I rode from LRT-2 Katipunan Station to LRT-2 Recto Station, then walked to LRT-1 Doroteo Jose Station. From there, I rode until Gil Puyat Station, where buses going to Batangas could be found.
Riding the MRT, on the other hand, involved the MRT itself and transferring to LRT-1 to get to Gil Puyat. From North Avenue Station, I rode the MRT until the terminus, the Taft Avenue Station. After riding the MRT, I walked to LRT-1 EDSA Station, where I boarded a train for Gil Puyat Station.
First, I tried the LRT-1/LRT-2. From UP Diliman, I rode a jeep to Katipunan, then walked to the LRT-2 Katipunan Station. I was utterly surprised by the layout of the Katipunan Station. It was located underground, and it is quite confusing to navigate to the platform itself if you never had experienced riding from the Katipunan Station. The station was not crowded, and I have not encountered any major problems with navigating the station and getting into the platform.
Upon reaching the platform, me and my fellow passengers waited for at least 5 minutes for the train to arrive. My guess is that there were only few LRT-2 trains, since the route served by LRT-2 is not as crucial as those served by the LRT-1 and the MRT. When the train arrived, I hurriedly boarded the train with other passengers and tried to find a seat. Unfortunately, there were no seats available, and I have to stand and grab the railings as the train closed its doors and rushed past the station. I could tell you that standing in the trains of LRT-2 is no problem at all, since there is an ample amount of space between standing and seated passengers. (Of course, you still have to worry about body odors when you are standing and holding railings.)
The train loaded and unloaded at every station, eventually reaching Recto Station, the terminus of LRT-2. Unlike Katipunan Station, Recto Station was filled with people. My guess is that I arrived exactly at rush hour. Since it was my first time to ride LRT-2, I was a little bit confused with navigating around the station. I knew that I have to get to the LRT-1 through a walkway, but the question is: how do I find that walkway? There are no big signage that tell you how to get to LRT-1 Doroteo Jose Station, and the overhead directional signage served more to confuse than to enlighten me. Fortunately, I was able to find that walkway and get to Doroteo Jose Station.
Upon reaching Doroteo Jose Station, I have to climb the stairs in order to reach the southbound side of the platform. Climbing the stairs here was an exhausting venture. Nonetheless, I reached the southbound side, paid for a single journey ticket, and boarded along with other passengers when the train came. LRT-1 trains were always overcrowded, and I have to make sure that I have a tight grasp to my bag, since the space between me and other passengers is almost nonexistent that I could feel and smell the pungent sweat of others.
The train slowly left the station and rushed past different stations. I noticed that the train stopped before Central Station — my guess is that the train have to give way for other trains or there is another train picking up passengers on that station. Nonetheless, the train went from station to station until it reached Gil Puyat Station, where I alighted the train and left the station. Eventually, I left for a bus terminal and boarded the first bus headed home.
Almost two weeks after my first ride to LRT-1/LRT-2, I tried to go to Gil Puyat using MRT and LRT-1. From UP Diliman, I boarded a jeep bound for SM North EDSA. After arriving at SM North EDSA, I crossed towards Trinoma and from there, went to North Avenue Station. After purchasing a Beep card, I tapped it to the turnstile fare gate— the process was easier than purchasing a single journey ticket. I went to the platform and waited for the train to arrive along with other passengers. When the train arrived, we boarded the train. Since North Avenue Station is the northern terminus, the train stopped longer to allow more passengers to board. But since the route served by MRT is along EDSA, there are more people who ride the MRT everyday than LRT-1 and LRT-2. The train was filled by passengers instantly, and when it left North Avenue Station, it was slightly crowded inside.
Station after station, the train became more crowded. By the time it had reached Boni Station, the train was literally a pack of sardines — the train, I guess, was overcrowded beyond its normal operating capacity. Eventually, when the train reached the southern terminus, the Taft Avenue Station, all of us alighted and struggled against each other at the fare gate. Luckily, I have my Beep card that made it easier to pay for the journey.
Going to the LRT-1 EDSA Station was much easier than going to Doroteo Jose Station from Recto. Even though I failed to notice the shorter walkway going towards the station, I still managed to do it by taking the longer route: going inside a mall and following the signage to EDSA Station. Through the Beep card, I hurried towards the platform and boarded the train. After 2 stops, I alighted the train at Gil Puyat then left for the bus terminals.
After riding the LRT and MRT, I concluded from my experience that LRT-2 wins over LRT-1 and MRT. The LRT-2 stations, although they are a little bit neglected, are way better than LRT-1 and MRT-3 stations. Heck, I couldn’t even find a single bathroom in LRT-1 stations. LRT-2 stations are big and spacious enough to handle the rush hour, and they give you the impression of well-maintained stations.
Sadly, this is not the case for LRT-1 and MRT. Even though MRT stations are better than LRT-1 stations, the difference is small and unnoticeable during rush hour. What cringed me most is the fact that LRT-1 platforms are not on level with the trains, so when passengers boarded, they have to “climb up” the trains to board. I didn’t encountered this problem with the LRT-2 and MRT.
LRT and MRT are all plagued by non-functioning amenities such as toilets, elevators and escalators. They also lack basic amenities such as phone booths and WiFi connectivity. I hope that the government will find ways to fix these amenities to improve experience on all LRT and MRT stations.
One amenity that I like though is payment through Beep cards. It was much easier to pay for a journey with a Beep card than to pay on the counter for a single journey ticket. Paying on the counter involves lining up for a long queue — which I avoided at all cost. Having a Beep card also ensures that you only have to reload it once it lacked balance, although sometimes the turnstile fare gate doesn’t read the Beep card at all.
Another difference among LRT and MRT are the trains. LRT-1, LRT-2 and MRT all have its own train model that affected the overall experience of riding LRT and MRT. I have to say again that LRT-2 wins, since LRT-2 trains are the best. Their trains were larger than the trains utilized by LRT-1 and MRT. How large? Well, LRT-2 trains, even during rush hours, never give you the “impression” of overcrowding. Heck, these trains are huge and spacious inside! This is the polar opposite of LRT-1 and MRT trains, which was always “overcrowded” even if it is not yet rush hour. I wondered why the government has not yet purchased a larger train model for use in LRT-1 and MRT rather than buying a new train model that is roughly equivalent to the old, overcrowded and dilapidated train models that were used up to the present.
While riding the LRT and MRT, I timed my journey to find out how long the train journey took as compared the bus journey from Cubao to Batangas. Surprisingly, the difference is more or less an hour (if my basis of comparison was a 3-hour journey to Batangas). LRT-2/LRT-1 journey was faster than MRT/LRT-1 journey, and the number of stations made a difference to this — although the difference between the two is only 5 minutes.
So, what did riding on LRT and MRT taught me? Of course, there is a different kind of thrill upon riding on LRT and MRT — the thrill of trying something new and different. It taught me that we are all the same, regardless of whether you are rich or poor — after all, those who took the LRT or MRT everyday just wanted to get from point A to B. I have seen and experienced first hand the plight of ordinary Filipinos — the plight that even the government cannot effectively solve. Actually, we deserve better than this — we deserve better than the poor service of both transit systems. Riding the LRT and MRT is a lesson on humility — no wonder Grace Poe rode the MRT to experience the ride firsthand. No matter what, riding the LRT and MRT is a challenging experience that will make you wonder if the transportation system in Metro Manila is enough to handle the daily commuters that are vital to the daily commerce of the booming metropolitan. Just make sure that if you take the LRT and MRT challenge, you showered, sprayed cologne, and brought patience and wit — if you did all this, I guarantee that you would survive.
