President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday ordered the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to defer the planned increases in the Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT-1) and LRT-2 lines.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the suspension will be in effect pending completion of a study on repercussions of the fare hikes on the two rail lines as well as the Metro Rail Transit (MRT).

He said they also opted to defer the fare hike for MRT due to its management's "infirmities in complying with the requirements and procedure.”

“In compliance with the President’s instruction, we will thoroughly study how a fare hike today will impact on passengers of our three rail lines in Metro Manila,” Bautista said.

The planned fare increases in the LRT-1 and LRT 2 lines were endorsed by DOTr’s Rail Regulatory Unit (RRU).

The LRT-1 and LRT-2 fare hikes, which were approved by DOTr last March 27, would increase boarding fare to P13.29 from the present P11 and raise distance fare from the current P1 to P1.21 per kilometer.

“The fare increase will enable the two rail lines’ (LRT-1 and LRT-2) to improve their services, facilities and technical capabilities,” Bautista said.

“The fare adjustment will help sustain the two commuter rail lines’ affordable mass transport services,” he added.

DOTr said the last fare hike for LRT-2 and MRT-3 was back in 2015, while the management of LRT-1 has been seeking an increase since 2016. DMS