Philippine Railway Historical Society News and History!

Monday, August 17, 2020

This post was to be a part of a special series covering some of the Manila elevated railway stations some way down the, if you will pardon the terrible pun, track.

However, a request for photos by a Daniel Charles Valenciano on our sister 'Philippine Association of Rail Enthusiasts' group, has seen me, if you pardon another terrible pun, roster it to run on a much earlier path than originally tabled.

Monumento was the original northern terminus of the LRT1 when it opened in 1984. This being extended eastward to Roosevelt in 2010. In fact, the first photograph below shows the construction associated with this extension.

1G 1022 1023 1024 have just pulled into Monumento station from the sidings beyond.

It will soon head southwards to Baclaran.

Many of the original first generation sets are still working the LRT1 daily, having done so for nearly 36 years. That the loads they carry, they have served Manila well, their operators sure having got their money worth from them.

1027 1026 1025 arrive from Baclaran.

Always busy on the LRT with a first generation set leaving for Baclaran, as a third generation arrives.

The second generation are somewhat more rare on the system. Only two sets were running at the time of this visit, reportedly due to reliability issues.

None were seen on this day, but they will feature in future LRT1 posts.

The LRT1 carries some large loads, seven days a week.

It is often said that passenger numbers are far in excess of what it was originally designed to handle, with over 14 million in a month often being carried.