During the last days of 2015, people were all in anticipation with what should be the biggest news on the first day of 2016, President Noynoy Aquino and my “favorite” Transportation Secretary Jun (P)Abaya being run over by a train because they apparently could not keep their promise of having the construction of the 11.7 kilometer Line 1 South Extension from Baclaran to Bacoor in Cavite by the end of 2015. It was a promise first uttered at the height of the campaign period for the 2013 midterm elections as Aquino was campaigning for his senatorial bets in Cavite. It also happens that (P)Abaya was also a congressman of the province…
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Line 2 East Extension…Finally!
After about 5-6 years of waiting thanks to the slow pace that has been going on at the Department of Transportation and Communication, (thank you Sec. Mar Roxas and Jun (P)Abaya!) the Urban Roamer is happy to report that finally work is now commencing on the Line 2 East Extension…for real. Yesterday, June 9, marked the groundbreaking of the said project which would involve extending the present line of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) ending at Santolan to about 4.2 kilometers east in rail length and two additional stations: Emerald Station in Pasig near Robinsons Metro East Mall and Sta. Lucia Mall and Masinag Station in Antipolo. For those who are based on the…
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On Train Fare Hikes: A Commentary
Just as commuters in the metropolis are still feeling the good tidings of Christmas with the recent decision to lower jeepney fares, not to mention a possible lowered fares for taxis and AUVs, there is an impending yang to this present yin as the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) announced an increase in the fares for the metropolitan mass transit lines operated by the LRTA (Lines 1 and 2) and MRTC (Line 3 or the EDSA line) effective January 4, 2015. The new rates would peg a trip from Roosevelt to Baclaran to P30 from the original P20 via Line 1, Santolan in Pasig to Recto in Manila at P28…
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Derailed
With so many problems Metro Manila’s Line 3 mass transit rail system is having for…God knows how long, it has become a tiring and uneasy job for me to write about yet another issue about this darned rail line. Especially if you have been keeping abreast with the news about the metropolitan mass transit system for a long while now, which in my case, precedes that of the Urban Roamer. (which is turning 5 soon, but that’s another matter altogether) But what happened last Wednesday afternoon, August 13, is something for the books. Who would have thought we would get to this record low? Maybe some of us did and…