MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The cost of riding the trains of the Makati subway will be more expensive than the current train lines, businessman Antonio Tiu said on Friday, August 2.

Tiu, president and chief executive officer of Infradev Holdings, said that the fare will be around 20% to 25% higher than the rates of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT).

At current rates, MRT commuters need to pay P28 if they would travel to and from Taft Avenue all the way to the last station, North Avenue. Meanwhile, it would cost P30 to get to the end of the LRT line 1. With Tiu’s estimates, this means that commuters need to pay a maximum of around P38.

The Makati Subway project costs $3.5 billion or around P178 billion and was made possible through a joint venture deal between Infradev and the Makati City government.

Will the fare be enough to cover the cost?

Tiu said that the subway will cater to around 700,000 daily. Provided that the number of commuters will hit that figure, it means that the train system would generate P21 million a day or almost P7.7 billion a year. 

It would take over 23 years for ticket sales alone to cover the entire project cost. (READ: Makati subway project promises 6,000 jobs)

To compare, the LRT had an average of 446,571 passengers in the 1st half of 2019. Meanwhile, MRT passengers can hit over 500,000 passengers, provided that all trains are operational.

This means that the proposed Makati subway was designed to carry over 200,000 more passengers.

Tiu said that the subway would rely on commercial leases to support its operations.

In a text message to Rappler, Tiu said that the non-fare revenue like commercial leases will be “significantly bigger” than the ticket prices. 

The subway has 10 stops from Ospital ng Makati to Ayala Avenue and has provisions to connect it to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It is aimed to be operational by 2025. – Rappler.com