Another 25 Things I’ve Learned Riding the LRT & MRT

1. On the LRT 2 the fines are—Php 500 for eating, drinking or littering; Php 1,000 for smoking, Php 5,000 for bringing in anything flammable; and Php 50,000 for going down where the tracks are.
2. The trains run on electricity (based on the Electricity Danger signs on the tracks).
3. The MRT has the biggest changes in height from just above street level to 3-4 stories high, like to and from the Ortigas or Quezon Ave. stations.
4. The MRT has 9 train cars, 3 of which are attached at a time, so that’s 3 sets of cars that you can choose from.
5. The LRT 2 does not have benches in its stations, while the LRT 1 and MRT do.

6. The LRT 2 stations are the only ones with electronic board signs that inform commuters how many minutes and seconds they have to wait before the next train arrives.
7. A newly bought stored value card must be initially used within a month.
8. The fee for a damaged LRT 2 Card is Php 24.
9. The sound of the MRT and LRT are quite distinct and carries over a distance when there’s not much traffic (I can hear it from where I live).
10. The Ayala MRT station has the most number of shops ranging from a computer school to a skin-whitening center to the regular food outlets.

11. If there are a lot of people waiting at the boarding platform, the train is bound to arrive shortly, and the reverse is also true.
12. The longest I’ve had to wait for a train was 9 minutes.
13. Your foot can get wedged in that small space between the boarding platform and the train (mine almost did when some passengers were insistently boarding while I was struggling to get out).
14. Sometimes the same train that arrives at the end station is the same one that travels right after. And that’s how I learned that a lot of people were already doing my previous advice of traveling all the way to the Taft station during peak nighttime hours to avoid the crowds on the northbound trip, because majority of the passengers stayed onboard.
15. Before, the guard will blow his whistle at anybody who’s caught sitting on the hand or foot rails or the floors on the LRT 2 boarding platform while waiting for the train to arrive. However, since it is now such a prevalent practice, they’ve refrained from doing so.

16. The Quezon Ave. MRT station tried having a turnstile exclusively for women, for what reason I couldn’t guess, but they dropped the idea after a while.
17. The ads on the sides of the train make it hard to see the number of passengers inside, which I find irritating when I’m trying to gauge which train car to go for.
18. The GMA-Kamuning station would be more aptly called the GMA station since it is right beside the GMA compound, and about a block away from Kamuning.
19. The Quezon Ave. overpass is on the same level as the billboards on EDSA (approximately 5-6 stories high). Workers do their job without safety equipment on those billboards (freaky!).
20. Senior male citizens may also use the LRT 1 For Females only cars, but they have to stay in the roped off area beside the driver’s station where children accompanied by males are.

21. So far, the Shaw Blvd. station is the only station with two malls directly attached to it—the Shangrila Mall on the south side and the Star Mall on the north side.
22. Passengers are advised by signs not to stand in the area that connects the cars (this may sound morbid but I think that in the event of an accident the cars will probably separate at those areas).
23. You may request at the Customer Assistance desk for them to swipe your card in order to learn the status of your stored value card.
24. Try another turnstile if one rejects your card.
25. People are supposed to stay behind the yellow lines on the boarding platforms to ensure their safety, but some people love playing with danger and ignore the security guard’s warning whistle blows.

Related Posts

Why I Love the LRT 2
25 Things I’ve Learned Riding the LRT & MRT
25 More Things I’ve Learned Riding the LRT & MRT
25 Even More Things I’ve Learned Riding the LRT & MRT
Testing Positive for Drugs While Applying for My Driver’s License