The transport department issued a statement regarding the increase in ticket fees of the rail line.
In its post on Tuesday, April 1, the Department Department of Transportation (DOTr) expressed its stance on the fare hike implemented by the LRT-1 operator, Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) on Wednesday, April 2.
It said that while they respect the decision of those who want to file an appeal against the fare adjustment in LRT-1, “it believes that the fare adjustment is long overdue and is necessary to ensure the operational viability of the rail line and sustain its necessary upgrades for the benefit of the commuting public.“
Moreover, “This rate increase is needed to not only ensure smooth and timely maintenance of LRT-1 but also the extension of the line all the way to Cavite under the present PPP contract.”
The DOTr noted that this rate increase, which was approved last January 30, 2025, “is only the second rate increase with 2023 being the first. This was also much lower than the proposed 20 peso fare originally submitted by the Light Rail Management Corporation.”
According to the LRMC, in its previous advisory, the minimum fare for single journey ticketholders (SJT) will be increased from Php 15 to Php 20, with the end-to-end fee from Dr. Santos to FPJ Avenue (and vice-versa) raised from Php 45 to Php 55.
Meanwhile, passengers using reloadable stored value Beep cards will be charged the boarding fee of Php 16. For those riding the entire line, it will set them back Php 52.
It is based on the computation that the minimum fee will be Php 16.25, with each kilometer corresponding to an additional Php 1.47.