LRTA deficit swells to P925 million in 2025

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February 15, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The state-owned operator of the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) is struggling to come out of its financial difficulty, with its deficit amounting to more than P900 million in 2025.

In its annual accomplishment report, the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) said its deficit widened by 61 percent to P925.29 million last year, from P574.84 million in 2024.

Primarily, the LRTA booked a two-percent drop in revenue from fare collection to P1.25 billion, as the LRT-2 gave out free rides and higher discounts as ordered by the government.

The bright spot for the LRTA is that its earnings from the non-rail segment tripled to P1.9 billion.

The LRTA attributed this to the extension of short-term contracts, particularly for ad placements and commercial leasing, allowing the agency to even out the decline in rail income.

Moreover, the LRTA said it is scaling up efforts to raise more non-rail revenues and build up its finances by reducing dependence on fare collection. Still, the agency is far from reaching its goal of becoming self-sufficient.

In 2025, LRTA’s operating expenses went up by 18 percent to P2.18 billion, from P1.85 billion in 2024, due to double-digit increases in personnel, material, power and maintenance costs.

The LRTA said it had to increase spending to buy spare parts and pursue maintenance activities, ensuring the operational reliability of the LRT-2.

“Overall, the increased expenditure underscores the LRTA’s commitment to maintaining safe and reliable operations despite rising input costs,” the LRTA said.

Further, the LRTA settled P406.03 million in claims to the Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), the first time that the agency did since the concession agreement was signed in 2014. The LRTA said it had to pay the claims in compliance with contractual obligations to LRMC.

Broken down, the bulk of LRMC’s claims covered light rail vehicle (LRV) shortfall payments at P235.73 million. The LRTA is required to compensate LRMC if the number of available LRVs for service at the Light Rail Transit Line 1 falls below 100.

Apart from this, the LRTA paid LRMC for its claims on the restoration costs of structural defects (170.07 million) and plumbing works (P222,294).

State-run entities like the LRTA depend on their own revenue generation to fund daily operations and maintenance projects, and when they fail to earn enough, they ask for government subsidies.