Strong Republic Transit System
The Strong Republic Transit System was launched to integrate the various rail lines providing public transport in Manila in the Philippines. The program was initiated by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on June 14, 2003. It aimed to provide a "reliable, seamless and integrated mass transit system that would be at par with international standards" through the unification of already-existing rail infrastructure under one transit system and fare structure. The Manila Light Rail Transit System (LRT), the Manila Metro Rail Transit System (MRT) and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Northrail and Southrail lines were covered by the SRTS project.[1] The program was not continued by Benigno Aquino III,[citation needed] although his administration may continue the stalled Northrail project in a reconfigured way.[2]
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[edit] Links
The SRTS project provided for seven "links", i.e. interchange stations where commuters would be able to seamlessly transfer from one line to the other. When the program was initiated four links were in use (see table and map). The Santa Mesa and Recto Link were added in 2004, when the already under construction Puple Line was extended. The Northrail project has been cancelled, as a result the Caloocan Link is missing. The closing of the loop has almost been completed by extending the Yellow line with five new stations, unlike originally outlined by the plan. The Yellow would require one more station make a connection via the the so-called North Avenue Link to North Avenue MRT Station. In order of operation the following links have been realized:
| Link | Lines and stations | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blumentritt Link | Yellow Line | Blumentritt | Orange Line | Blumentritt |
| Pasay Link | Yellow Line | EDSA | Blue Line | Taft Avenue |
| Magallanes Link | Blue Line | Magallanes | Orange Line | EDSA |
| Cubao Link | Purple Line | Araneta Center-Cubao | Blue Line | Cubao |
| Santa Mesa Link | Purple Line | Pureza | Orange Line | Santa Mesa |
| Recto Link | Purple Line | Recto | Yellow Line | Doroteo Jose |
| Caloocan Link (not in use) | Yellow Line | Caloocan | Green Line | Caloocan |
[edit] Fare integration
The project aimed to unify fare systems on the lines through the use of contactless smart cards, similar to the Octopus card in Hong Kong and the EZ-Link card in Singapore. The integrated system has not been implemented, as the project was dropped. A weekly ticket which is valid on LRT-1, LRT-2 and MRT-3 lines has been introduced in 2004 though. For ₱ 250 one can make an unlimited number of rides per day on any of the three existing LRT/MRT lines during one calendar week with the so-called Flash Pass Card .[3]
[edit] See also
- List of Strong Republic Transit System stations
- Manila Light Rail Transit System
- Manila Metro Rail Transit System
- Philippine National Railways
[edit] References
- ^ The Strong Republic Transit System, www.lrta.gov.ph (web.archive.org), February 3 2004
- ^ China open to reconfiguring NorthRail project, says Roxas, Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 2 2011
- ^ Flash Pass Ticketing System, www.lrta.gov.ph (web.archive.org), June 5 2004
