MRT Line 3 (Metro Manila)
The Manila Metro Rail Transit Line 3, also known as the MRT Line 3 or MRT-3, is a rapid transit line in Metro Manila in the Philippines. The line runs in an orbital north to south route following the alignment of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. Despite its name, the line is more akin to a light rapid transit system owing to its tram-like rolling stock while having total grade separation and high passenger throughput. Originally known as the Metrostar Express or the Blue Line, the line was reclassified to be the Yellow Line in 2012.
Envisioned in the 1970s and 1980s as part of various feasibility studies, the 13-station, line was the second rapid transit line to be built in Metro Manila when it started full operations in 2000. The line is owned and operated by the Philippine government's Department of Transportation. It was previously owned by the Metro Rail Transit Corporation under a 25-year build–lease–transfer agreement with the DOTr, which expired on July 15, 2025.
The line is integrated with the public transit system in Metro Manila, where passengers also take various forms of road-based public transport, such as buses, to and from a station to reach their intended destination. Serving close to 400,000 passengers on a daily basis, the line is the busiest among Metro Manila's three rapid transit lines. Total ridership significantly exceeds its built maximum capacity of 350,000 passengers a day, with various solutions being proposed or implemented to alleviate chronic congestion. Expanding the network's capacity to accommodate the rising number of passengers is currently set on tackling this problem.
History
Early planning
In 1973, the Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency presented a plan to construct five subway lines in Metro Manila. The study was known as the Urban Transport Study in the Manila Metropolitan Area. One of the five lines, Line 3, was planned as a line along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, the region's busiest road corridor. The plan would have resolved the traffic problems of Metro Manila and would have taken 15 years to complete.Another study by JICA was presented in 1976 which included the five lines proposed in 1973. The study recommended heavy rail due to the rising population.
During the construction of the first line of the Manila Light Rail Transit System in the early 1980s, Electrowatt Engineering Services of Zürich designed a comprehensive plan for metro service in Metro Manila. The plan—still used as the basis for planning new metro lines—consisted of a network of rapid transit lines spanning all major corridors within 20 years. The study integrated the previous 1973 OTCA study, the 1976 JICA study, and the 1977 Freeman Fox and Associates study, which was used as the basis for the LRT Line 1.
Development and early delays
The project was restarted as a light rail project in 1989. DOTC planned to construct a light railway transit line along EDSA, a major thoroughfare in Metropolitan Manila, which would traverse Quezon City, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Makati, and Pasay. The plan, referred to as EDSA Light Rail Transit III, was intended to provide a mass transit system along EDSA and alleviate the congestion and growing transportation problems in the metropolis. On March 3, 1990, a letter of intent was sent by Eli Levin Enterprises, Inc., represented by Elijahu Levin, to the Department of Transportation and Communications, now Department of Transportation, secretary Oscar Orbos, proposing to construct the EDSA LRT III on a build-operate-transfer basis.On July 9, 1990, President Corazon Aquino signed Republic Act No. 6957, simply known as the Build-Operate-Transfer Law; it took exactly three months later. The government then published an invitation to pre-qualify and bid for the project on February 21, 1991. Five groups responded to the invitation: ABB Trazione of Italy, Hopewell Holdings Ltd. of Hong Kong, Mansteel International of Mandaue, Cebu, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. of Japan, and EDSA LRT Consortium, composed of ten foreign and domestic corporations. EDSA LRT Consortium was the sole firm that passed the pre-qualification process, and submitted its proposal to the DOTC on July 16. The Build-Lease-Transfer agreement was signed on November 7.
On September 22, 1992, DOTC and EDSA LRT Corporation signed a revised and restated BLT Agreement. The new BLT Agreement defined the project coverage in two phases: Phase 1, which spanned between North Avenue, Quezon City and Taft Avenue, Pasay, and Phase II, which spanned from North Avenue to, Caloocan. The project was approved by the Cabinet on January 19, 1993. On May 6 of that same year, the project was launched by President Fidel V. Ramos. According to the agreements, the line would use light rail vehicles from the Czech and Slovak Federal Republics and will have a maximum carrying capacity of 450,000 passengers a day, or 150 million a year to be achieved, through 54 such vehicles operating simultaneously. The EDSA LRT III will run at grade, or street level, on the mid-section of EDSA for a distance of from F.B. Harrison, Pasay, to North Avenue, Quezon City. The system will have its own power facility. It will also have thirteen passenger stations and one depot on government property at North Avenue.
However, construction could not commence, with the project stalled as the Philippine government conducted several investigations into alleged irregularities with the project's contract. The Supreme Court had a case barring Eli Levin from implementing the project in March 1994, and the bids were ABB and Mitsubishi Corporation, which also wanted to supply contracts. A year later, the Supreme Court upheld the regularity of the project which paved the way for construction to finally begin during the term of President Ramos.
A consortium of local companies, led by Fil-Estate Management was later joined by Ayala Land, and 5 others, later formed the Metro Rail Transit Corporation in June 1995 and took over the EDSA LRT Corporation. The project then became known internally as the Light Rail Transit System.
Construction and opening
On March 27, 1996, the unveiling marker was attended by President Ramos and others. The MRTC was subsequently awarded a Build-Lease-Transfer contract by the DOTC, which meant that the latter would possess ownership of the system after the 25-year concession period. Meanwhile, the DOTC would assume all administrative functions, such as the regulation of fares and operations, leaving the MRTC responsibility over construction and maintenance of the system as well as the procurement of spare parts for trains. In exchange, the DOTC would pay the MRTC monthly fees for a certain number of years to reimburse any incurred costs.Construction began on October 15 of the same year, with a BLT agreement signed between the Philippine government and the MRTC. An amended turnkey agreement was later signed on September 16, 1997, with Sumitomo Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Sumitomo and Mitsubishi subcontracted EEI Corporation and AsiaKonstrukt for the civil works. A separate agreement was signed with ČKD Dopravní Systémy, the leading builder of trams and light rail vehicles for the Eastern Bloc, on rolling stock. MRTC also retained the services of ICF Kaiser Engineers and Constructors to provide program management and technical oversight of the services for the design, construction management, and commissioning. MRTC would later sign a maintenance agreement with Sumitomo and Mitsubishi for the maintenance of the line on December 10 of the same year.
During construction, the MRTC oversaw the design, construction, equipping, testing, and commissioning, while the DOTC oversaw technical supervision of the project activities covered by the BLT contract between the DOTC and MRTC. The DOTC also sought the services of SYSTRA, a French consultant firm, with regards to the technical competence, experience and track record in the construction and operations.
On December 15, 1999, the initial section from to was inaugurated by President Joseph Estrada, with all remaining stations opening on July 20, 2000, a little over a month past the original deadline, due to DOTC's inclusion of additional work orders such as the Tramo flyover in Pasay leading to Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Initial ridership on the first section fell well below expectations. Passengers complained that the tickets were too expensive, with a maximum fare of. At the time, this was more costly than a comparable bus ride along the EDSA, or similar rail trips elsewhere on the LRTA and the PNR. Others complained of an excess of stairs, and a lack of connectivity between the stations and other modes of public transportation. The MRTC had projected a daily ridership of 300,000 passengers, but in the first month of operations, the system saw only 40,000 passengers daily. However, patronage steadily grew to an average of 109,000 per day in 2000, and 312,000 per day by 2003. The system was also initially criticized as a white elephant, comparing it to the Manila Light Rail Transit System and the Metro Manila Skyway. To alleviate passenger complaints, the MRTC later reduced passenger fares to, as per the request of then-President Joseph Estrada and a subsequent government subsidy.
During the line's construction in 2000, Pasay residents raised concerns about the line being constructed at ground level, resulting in the closure of several intersections along EDSA, forcing people to take long detours just to cross EDSA. Residents also complained that they were not properly consulted about the line's construction in their area. The MRTC stated that the segment could not be made as an elevated railway due to the air rights above the LRT-1 already being awarded to the Department of Public Works and Highways for a flyover in 1996.
Overcrowding and maintenance problems
MRTC projected a capacity breach in the system by 2002. By 2004, the line had the highest ridership of the three lines, with 400,000 passengers daily. By early 2012, the system was carrying around 550,000 to 600,000 commuters during weekdays and was often badly overcrowded during peak times of access during the day and night. It operated beyond its original designed capacity until 2019. In 2011, Sumitomo, through TES Philippines, issued a warning about the severe overcrowding situation of the line, in which a failure to immediately upgrade the systems would result in potential damage.Sumitomo's original maintenance contract was set to expire in June 2010, but was extended four times. On November 17, 2010, MRTC transferred its responsibility of maintaining the system to the DOTC. By the end of Sumitomo's extended contract in October 2012, the DOTC, under the leadership of its secretary Jun Abaya, decided to procure a new maintenance firm. After the DOTC takeover, unloading incidents and train shortages became rampant. On the other hand, the government of Benigno Aquino III had been planning to buy the line from the MRTC; Representative Edgar Erice of Caloocan's 2nd congressional district accused the MRTC of neglecting and not improving the services of the line under its watch.
Following a major train derailment on August 13, 2014, experts from the Mass Transit Railway in Hong Kong audited the MRT-3 two weeks after the incident. In November, the MTR reported that the line's performance was "unsatisfactory". The Philippine Senate, in February 2016, released a report stating that Abaya and other DOTC officials "may have violated" the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in relation to questionable contracts with the subsequent maintenance providers. In a Senate report on the results of the MTR audit, DOTC officials were reported to be involved in graft in relation to questionable contracts, especially those for the maintenance of the line.
The DOTC tried to bid out a three-year maintenance contract in October 2014 and January 2015, but both biddings failed. Through a negotiated procurement, the Busan joint venture, consisting of Busan Transportation Corporation, Edison Development & Construction, Tramat Mercantile Inc., TMICorp Inc., and Castan Corporation was awarded the three-year contract by the DOTC. The contract started in January 2016 and was slated to end by January 2019. In 2017, DOTC's succeeding agency, the Department of Transportation attributed the operation's disruptions of the rail system to the Busan joint venture, later known as Busan Universal Rail, Inc., with DOTr Transport Undersecretary for Rails Cesar Chavez noting 98 service interruptions and 833 passenger unloadings as well as train derailments in April–June 2017. BURI insisted that the disruptions the railway line was experiencing is due to "inherent design and quality concerns" and not to poor maintenance or normal tear or wear. It said that glitches started occurring since 2000, a claim that MRTC dismissed when Sumitomo was maintaining the system. The maintenance contract was terminated on November 6, 2017.