More than 129 million passengers took the service of the Metro Rail Transit-Line 3 (MRT-3) in 2023, surpassing the total ridership record in 2022.
In a press release posted on its official Facebook page, the management of MRT-3 said it recorded a total of 129,030,158 passengers in 2023, a 30 percent increase from the 98,330,683 record in 2022.
"Average daily ridership also increased by more than 30 percent in 2023 to 357,198 from the previous year’s 273,141," the MRT management stated.
It cited that the railway had the highest number of passengers in August 2023 with 11,618,005 trips and had the highest single-day ridership on August 22 with 450,298 passengers.
In 2023, MRT-3 offered several free ride programs or libreng sakay which the management said benefitted 220,706 passengers.
MRT-3 officer-in-charge Jorjette Aquino believed that MRT-3's "enhanced reliability and effective maintenance program" and "increased return of more passengers to on-site work" mainly drove the increase in ridership in 2023.
"The MRT-3 served as a reliable partner to more commuters who returned to on-site work in 2023, and needed a fast and dependable mode of transport. The continued effective maintenance and upkeep of MRT-3’s rehabilitated subsystems contributed to the improved reliability and efficiency of the rail line. Our trains now receive necessary preventive maintenance and upkeep on time, while other subsystems such as tracks, signaling, and power are also properly maintained," she remarked.
