“Safe, Fast, and Reliable”. This was the tagline of LRT 1’s second generation of magnetic tickets in 2003. The ticket series came at a time when then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came up with the term “government of national cooperation” in attempting to get several sectors of society to work together for the common good. This tagline was also used across all of the four designs of the series shown below.

Single Journey Tickets

Unlike in the previous “Go for the Blue!” series, this generation of cards only had two variants for the single-journey tickets (SJT), called “A” and “B” tickets. The SJTs were dominantly colored red.

As was the case with the first generation LRT 1 tickets (and the MRT 2 “Megatren Series”), the former president’s face was also included in the design of this series.

Single Journey A ticket with red background
LRT 1 Generation 2 Single Journey A Ticket
Single Journey B ticket with red and gray background
LRT 1 Generation 2 Single Journey B Ticket

Stored Value Tickets

Likewise, for the stored value tickets (SVT), this series also had two variants, called “1” and “2” SVTs. They were dominantly colored blue.

Stored Value 1 ticket with blue background
LRT 1 Generation 2 Stored Value 1 Ticket
Stored Value 2 ticket with blue and gray background
LRT 1 Generation 2 Stored Value 2 Ticket

Ticket Design Flaw

Have you noticed anything with the designs? Look closely!!

Close up of ticket with Baclaran label cut off
“Approaching Bacla Station.”

Most of the magnetic tickets had the Baclaran Station name cut off, so only “Bacla” was readable. This was probably an unexpected effect as the layout came in first before they realized they had to allot space for the magnetic ticket hole at the corner.

Close up of ticket with Gil Puyat label missing
“Approaching Libertad Station. Next station, Vito Cruz Station.”

However — one of them seemed to get it right, with Baclaran being completely readable. One station is missing though: Gil Puyat station is nowhere to be found!!

Reverse side design

All four magnetic tickets had the same design on the reverse side. It contained a promotional material for the Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Company. Included was their tagline: “Devoted to the development of Philippine infrastructure since 1973.”

The reverse side also sported the arrowhead that indicates that this is the side facing up when inserting the ticket to enter or exit the station turnstiles. This is in contrast to the MRT 3 magnetic tickets, where the side facing up is the obverse (front) side design.

Hanjin advertisement

Conclusion

The Gen 2 “Safe, Fast, and Reliable” ticket series continued the Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) of the Gloria Era. There were some misprints or flaws in the design, hopefully not missed by keen observers riding the “Yellow Line” in the early 2000s.

Were you able to spot these flaws when you rode the train before?

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