Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) is pushing Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) ridership past pre-pandemic levels to hit 450,000 daily passengers by end-2026.

The operator said Thursday commuter volumes have already fully recovered, signaling a strong and sustained return of passengers as mobility normalizes and new infrastructure comes online.

“Pre-COVID, we were around 440,000 all-day average. Now, it is already 440,000 daily ridership,” LRMC president Enrico Benipayo said during the company’s 10th anniversary celebration marking its takeover of LRT-1.

“Our target really is to end the year with hopefully around average 450,000 daily ridership,” he added.

The higher target, according to Benipayo, followed LRMC’s push to convert infrastructure upgrades into actual passenger growth.

Over the past decade, the company has rolled out major improvements, including station rehabilitations, the deployment of 4th Generation train sets, and the opening of Phase 1 of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension to increase capacity and improve service reliability.

The company added that its expansion strategy will continue to rely on the Public-Private Partnership model.

“We are taking everything we have learned over the past decade to ensure the continuous development of LRT-1,” Benipayo said.