Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 4) — Passengers of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) can still enjoy direct trips to Roosevelt station in Quezon City until January 9 or later.
The Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC ), which operates and maintains LRT-1 on Friday night announced it is postponing the implementation of the new passenger traffic scheme that was supposed to take effect from January 4 to March 31.
“Kindly stay tuned for further updates on the new start date,” the LRMC said on Twitter.
The plan was shelved to accommodate the expected surge of passengers during the Feast of the Black Nazarene, the LRMC said. The annual procession, also known as Traslacion happens on January 9 -– the image of Black Nazarene is transferred from Quirino Grandstand to its home in Quiapo Church, Manila.
Devotees from Quezon City can take the LRT-1 to go to and from the procession route.
Had the traffic scheme pushed through, passengers traveling northbound would have to alight at the preceding Monumento or Balintawak station since regular trains would no longer head to Roosevelt. Special shuttle trains would pick up passengers at Balintawak every 10 minutes to take them to Roosevelt.
The same train would accommodate passengers as it returns to Balintawak station. From there, they could ride a train going southbound up to Baclaran station in Parañaque.
Authorities are managing passenger traffic at LRT-1 to give way to the construction of the Unified Grand Central Station, which will connect the train systems LRT-1, Metro Rail Transit 3, and the MRT-7 which is still under construction.
