One-way LRT ride to cost up to 12 patacas
The Light Rail Transit (LRT) section connecting Taipa and Barra at the southernmost tip of the peninsula – via Sai Van Bridge – will open on Friday next week, December 8, the government-owned LRT operator, Macau Light Rapid Transit Corporation Limited (MLM), announced yesterday.
According to yesterday’s announcement, a one-way LRT ride will cost up to 12 patacas from Friday next week, a change from the current 10 patacas.
Currently, the LRT only operates on the 9.3-kilometre-long Taipa section which includes Cotai. The Taipa-Cotai section, which started operating on December 10, 2019, has 11 stations.
The first LRT section that will connect Taipa and the peninsula from Friday next week will run from Ocean station, the western terminus of the LRT Taipa section, to the south-western tip of the peninsula near A-Ma Temple.
LRT Ocean station is located near the sprawling Ocean Gardens residential estate on the north-western Taipa waterfront. The LRT Taipa-Barra section will run along the lower enclosed deck of the Macau-Taipa Sai Van Bridge.
The construction of the LRT station at Barra, which got off the ground in 2018, was completed in February this year.
The government started train operation tests on the LRT Taipa-Barra section early this year.
An MLM statement yesterday announced that the LRT service will be extended to Barra station from December 8, as all train operation tests on the Taipa-Barra section have been completed.
The statement said that the operational start of the Taipa-Barra section will finally enable the LRT service to connect the Macau peninsula with Taipa.
When the LRT Taipa-Barra section comes into service on Friday next week, according to the statement, the first train will depart from Barra station at 6:30 a.m., i.e., in the direction of Taipa Ferry Terminal station, the eastern terminus of the LRT Taipa section.
New fare system
The statement also announced that with an increase in the number of stations after the operational start of the LRT Taipa-Barra section on Friday next week and other new LRT lines in the future, a new LRT fare system will be implemented.
The ongoing LRT Seac Pai Van section project and Cotai-Hengqin section project are scheduled to be completed next year.
The new fare system will take effect on Friday next week.
Currently, LRT passengers buying a general one-way ticket at station service counters have to pay six patacas per trip when travelling to up to three stations, eight patacas per trip when travelling to up to six stations, and 10 patacas per trip when travelling to up to 10 stations.
In view of the fact that the current LRT Taipa-Cotai section has a total of 11 stations, passengers can travel to up to 10 stations.
From Friday next week, according to yesterday’s statement, LRT passengers buying a general one-way ticket at station service counters will have to pay six patacas per trip when travelling to up to three stations, eight patacas per trip when travelling to up to six stations, 10 patacas per trip when travelling to up to nine stations, and 12 patacas when travelling to up to 12 stations.
The operational start of the Taipa-Barra section will raise the number of the city’s LRT stations from 11 to 12.
Yesterday’s statement said that a sea-crossing one-way ride between Barra station and Ocean station, as well as a sea-crossing one-way ride between the Taipa section’s Lotus station and the future Hengqin station, will be regarded as a two-station trip, when the respective passengers pay their fare, despite the fact they are just travelling from one to another station in this case.
Unchanged from now, from Friday next week those using a stored-value LRT card or Macau Pass will continue to enjoy a 50 percent fare discount compared to the price of a general one-way ticket, while students, i.e., those holding a student version of the LRT card, will continue to enjoy a 75 percent fare discount compared to a general one-way ticket.
Senior citizens and the disabled holding their respective versions of the LRT card do not need to pay for their LRT rides.
This photo taken yesterday shows the new LRT Barra station. – Photo: William Chan
