The Manila Light Rail Transit System, commonly known as the LRT, is an urban rail transit system that primarily serves Metro Manila, Philippines. Although categorized as a light rail system because it originally used light rail vehicles, it presently has characteristics of a rapid transit system, such as high passenger throughput, exclusive right-of-way, and later use of full metro rolling stock. The LRT is jointly-operated by the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), a government corporation attached to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC). Along with the Manila Metro Rail Transit System and the Metro Commuter Line of the Philippine National Railways, the system makes up Metro Manila's rail infrastructure.

The LRT's is mostly elevated and consists of two lines and 38 stations. Line 1, also called the Green Line (formerly known as the Yellow Line), opened in 1984 and travels a north–south route. Line 2, the Purple Line (briefly referred to as the Blue Line), was completed in 2004 and runs east–west. The original Line 1 was built as a no-frills means of public transport and lacks some features and comforts, but the newer Line 2 was built with additional standards and criteria in mind such as barrier-free access. In 2024, the system served 470,000 passengers on average. Security guards at each station conduct inspections and provide assistance. A reusable plastic magnetic ticketing system has replaced the previous token-based system in 2001, and the Flash Pass was introduced as a step towards a more integrated transportation system. In 2015, the plastic magnetic tickets were replaced with the Beep, a contactless smart card, introduced to provide a common ticketing to 3 rail lines and some bus lines.

Many passengers who ride the system also take various forms of road-based public transport, such as buses and jeepneys, to and from a station to reach their intended destination. Although it aims to reduce traffic congestion and travel times in the metropolis, the transportation system has only been partially successful due to the rising number of motor vehicles and rapid urbanization. The network's expansion is set on resolving this problem.

Network The network consists of two lines: the original Line 1 or Green Line, and the more modern Line 2, or Purple Line. Line 1 is aligned in a general north–south direction along over of fully elevated track. From Monumento, it runs south above Rizal and Taft Avenue along grade-separated concrete viaducts allowing exclusive right-of-way before ending in Dr. Santos.United Nations Centre for Human Settlements. (1993). Provision of Travelway Space for Urban Public Transport in Developing Countries. UN–HABITAT. pp. 15, 26–70, 160–179. . A three-station east–west extension along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue that will connect Monumento to the North Avenue station was opened in 2010, although the common station is still under construction. Including the extension's two recently opened stations, Balintawak and Roosevelt, Line 1 has twenty stations. Line 2 consists of thirteen stations in a general east–west direction over of mostly elevated track, with one station lying underground (Katipunan). Commencing in Recto, the line follows a corridor defined by Claro M. Recto and Legarda Avenues, Ramon Magsaysay and Aurora Boulevard, and the Marikina-Infanta Highway before reaching the other end of the line at Antipolo. The system passes through the cities of Caloocan, Manila, Marikina, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, and San Juan.

During peak hours, Line 1 fields 30 trains at most; the time interval between the departure of one and the arrival of another, called headway, is a minimum of 3–4 minutes. On January 9, 2009, Line 1 fielded 31 trains with a headway of 2 minutes to service devotees in celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene. Line 2 on the other hand, runs 10 trains at most with a minimum headway of 5 minutes. With the proper upgrades, Line 1 is designed to potentially run with headway as low as 1.5 minutes.Gardner, Geoff and Francis Kuhn. (1992). Appropriate Mass Transit in Developing Cities. Paper presented at the 6th World Conference on Transport Research, Lyon, June 1992. p. 7. Retrieved March 11, 2010 from UK Department for International Development's Transport-Links Website. Line 2 can run with headway as low as 2 minutes with throughput of up to 60,000 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd).

In conjunction with the Line 3—also known as the new Yellow Line, a similar but separate metro rail system formerly owned by the private Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) until 2025—the system provides the platform for the vast majority of rail travel in the Metro Manila area. Together with the PNR, the three constitute the SRTS. Recto and Doroteo Jose serve as the sole interchange between both lines of the LRTA. Araneta Center-Cubao and EDSA stations serve as interchanges between the LRT and the MRT networks. To transfer lines, passengers will need to exit from the station they are in then pass through covered walkways connecting the stations. Blumentritt station meanwhile is immediately above its PNR counterpart.

, Central Terminal, and are Line 1's three terminal stations; Recto, Araneta Center-Cubao, and Antipolo are the terminal stations on Line 2. All of them are located on or near major transport routes where passengers can take other forms of transportation such as privately run buses and jeepneys to reach their destination both within Metro Manila and in neighboring provinces. The system has two depots: Line 1 uses the Pasay Depot at LRTA headquarters in Pasay, near Baclaran station, while the Line 2 uses the Santolan Depot built by Sumitomo in Pasig.

Both lines are open every day of the year from 4:30 am PST (UTC+8) until 10:15 pm on weekdays, and from 5:00 am until 9:50 pm on weekends, except when changes have been announced. During Holy Week, a public holiday in the Philippines, the rail system is closed for annual maintenance, owing to fewer commuters and traffic around the metro, with normal operations resuming after Easter Sunday. During the Christmas season, operating hours are usually extended on the days leading up to Christmas Day, but are shortened on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve to allow its staff to celebrate the holidays with their families. Notice of special schedules is given through press releases, via the public address system in every station, and on the LRTA and LRMC websites.

Name and color Opened Last extension Stations Length Termini Line 1 25 Line 2 13

History

Early train system (1878–1945)

The system's roots date back to 1878 when an official from Spain's Department of Public Works for the Philippines submitted a proposal for a Manila streetcar system. The system proposed was a five-line network emanating from Plaza San Gabriel in Binondo, running to Intramuros, Malate, Malacañan Palace, Sampaloc and Tondo. The project was approved, and in 1882, Spanish-German businessman Jacobo Zóbel de Zangroniz, Spanish engineer Luciano M. Bremon, and Spanish banker Adolfo Bayo founded the Compañia de los Tranvias de Filipinas to operate the concession granted by the Spanish colonial government. The Malacañan Palace line was later replaced with a line linking Manila to Malabon, and construction began in 1885. Four German-made steam-operated locomotives and eight coaches for nine passengers each, composed the initial assets of the company. The Manila-Malabon line was the first line of the new system to be finished, opening to the public on October 20, 1888, with the rest of the network opening in 1889. From the beginning it proved to be a very popular line, with services originating from Tondo as early as 5:30 a.m. and ending at 7:30 p.m., while trips from Malabon were from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., every hour on the hour in the mornings, and every half-hour beginning at 1:30 p.m.

With the American takeover of the Philippines, the Philippine Commission allowed the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (Meralco) to take over the properties of the Compañia de los Tranvias de Filipinas, with the first of twelve mandated electric tranvia (tram) lines operated by MERALCO opening in Manila in 1905. At the end of the first year around of track had been laid. A five-year reconstruction program was initiated in 1920, and by 1924, 170 cars serviced many parts of the city and its outskirts. Although it was an efficient system for the city's 220,000 inhabitants, by the 1930s the streetcar network had stopped expanding.

Post-war (1945–1977)

The system was closed during World War II. By the war's end, the tram network was damaged beyond repair amid a city that lay in ruins. It was dismantled and jeepneys became the city's primary form of transportation, plying the routes once served by the tram lines. With the return of buses and cars to the streets, traffic congestion became a problem.

In 1966, the Philippine government granted a franchise to Philippine Monorail Transport Systems (PMTS) for the operation of an inner-city monorail.Republic of the Philippines. (Approved: June 14, 1966). Republic Act No. 4652 – An Act Granting the Philippine Monorail Transit System, Incorporated a Franchise to Establish, Maintain and Operate a Monorail Transportation Service in the City of Manila and Suburbs and Cebu City and Province. Retrieved December 13, 2009 from the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. The monorail's feasibility was still being evaluated when the government asked the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to conduct a separate transport study. Prepared between 1971 and 1973, the JICA study proposed a series of circumferential and radial roads, an inner-city rapid transit system, a commuter railway, and an expressway with three branches. After further examination, many recommendations were adopted; however, none of them involved rapid transit and the monorail was never built. PMTS' franchise subsequently expired in 1974.Republic of the Philippines. (Enacted: October 4, 1971). Republic Act No. 6417 – An Act Amending Sections Three And Seven Of Republic Act Numbered Forty-Six Hundred Fifty-Two, Entitled "An Act Granting the Philippine Monorail Transit System, Incorporated a Franchise to Establish, Maintain and Operate a Monorail Transportation Service in the City Of Manila and Suburbs and Cebu City and Province". Retrieved December 13, 2009 from the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library.

Another study was performed between 1976 and 1977, this time by Freeman Fox and Associates and funded by the World Bank. It originally suggested a street-level railway, but its recommendations were revised by the newly formed Ministry of Transportation and Communications (now the DOTr). The ministry instead called for an elevated system because of the city's many intersections. However, the revisions increased the price of the project from ₱1.5 billion to ₱2 billion. A supplementary study was conducted and completed within three months.

Advent of Line 1 (1977–2003)