LRT-1 launches app for riders

Upgrade plans for the app include a partnership with beep card and QR codes for fares and tie-ups with merchants.

The private operator of the LRT-1 has launched an app making it more convenient for riders to experience the oldest but the most efficient of light rail lines in the country.

In a bid to alleviate the plight of Metro Manila commuters, the Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), the private operator of the LRT-1 train line, released a mobile application featuring one-stop information for commuters and tourists traveling along the LRT-1 route.

At a news briefing in Pasay on Tuesday, LRMC president and CEO Juan Alfonso said the ikotMNL app hopes to help riders have a seamless trip from one station to another.

“This is the first railway and tourism app in the Philippines. We constantly look for modern ways to change the way we move people and this ikotMNL app is an innovative tool to help our passengers with a convenient experience when riding the LRT-1,” Alfonso said.

The app’s core features include real-time train arrivals and departures, fare information, crowd monitoring in twenty stations of LRT-1, tourist spots, safety reminders, passenger advisories, news and announcements, a chat box for customer service assistance and a feedback form to help improve train service and passenger experience.

The ikotMNL app also promotes local tourism with detailed directions on tourist spots near LRT-1 stations and information about partnered local tour operators who are more than willing to show tourists the best places for sightseeing and great spots to dine and shop in Manila.

Moving forward, LRMC Corporate Communications head Jacqueline Gorospe said upgrade plans for the app include a partnership with beep card and QR codes for fares and tie-ups with merchants.

LRMC is a joint venture company of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corporation, Ayala Corporation’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation (AC Infra), and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd. (MIHPL).

It assumed operations and maintenance of LRT-1 in September 2015 through a P65-billion 32-year concession agreement with the Department of Transportation and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA).