Many passengers who ride the system also take various forms of road-based public transport, such as buses and jeepneys, to and from a station to reach their intended destination.

Although it aims to reduce traffic congestion and travel times in the metropolis, the transportation system has only been partially successful due to the rising number of motor vehicles and rapid urbanization.

From Monumento it runs south above the hustle and bustle of Rizal and Taft Avenues along grade-separated concrete viaducts allowing exclusive right-of-way before ending in Baclaran.

During peak hours, Line 1 fields 30 trains at most; the time interval between the departure of one and the arrival of another, called headway, is a minimum of 3–4 minutes.

[16] During Holy Week, a public holiday in the Philippines, the rail system is closed for annual maintenance, owing to fewer commuters and traffic around the metro, with normal operations resuming after Easter Sunday.

The system proposed was a five-line network emanating from Plaza San Gabriel in Binondo, running to Intramuros, Malate, Malacañan Palace, Sampaloc and Tondo.

[20] From the beginning it proved to be a very popular line, with services originating from Tondo as early as 5:30 a.m. and ending at 7:30 p.m., while trips from Malabon were from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., every hour on the hour in the mornings, and every half-hour beginning at 1:30 p.m.[21] With the American takeover of the Philippines, the Philippine Commission allowed the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (Meralco) to take over the properties of the Compañia de los Tranvias de Filipinas,[22] with the first of twelve mandated electric tranvia (tram) lines operated by MERALCO opening in Manila in 1905.

[26] The monorail's feasibility was still being evaluated when the government asked the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to conduct a separate transport study.

[25] Prepared between 1971 and 1973, the JICA study proposed a series of circumferential and radial roads, an inner-city rapid transit system, a commuter railway, and an expressway with three branches.

It originally suggested a street-level railway, but its recommendations were revised by the newly formed Ministry of Transportation and Communications (now the DOTr).

President Ferdinand Marcos created the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) on July 12, 1980, by virtue of Executive Order No.

[29] Initial assistance for the project came in the form of a ₱300 million soft loan from the Belgian government, with an additional ₱700 million coming from a consortium of companies comprising SA Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi (ACEC) and BN Constructions Ferroviaires et Métalliques (today both part of Bombardier Transportation and now Alstom), Tractionnel Engineering International (TEI) and Transurb Consult (TC).

[29][30] Although expected to pay for itself from revenues within twenty years of the start of operation, it was initially estimated that the system would lose money until at least 1993.

The government appointed Electrowatt Engineering Services of Zürich to oversee construction and eventually became responsible for the extension studies of future expansion projects.

In 1990, the Line 1 fell so far into disrepair due to premature wear and tear that trains headed to Central Terminal station had to slow to a crawl to avoid further damage to the support beams below as cracks reportedly began to appear.

[23] The premature aging of Line 1 led to an extensive refurbishing and structural capacity expansion program with a help of Japan's ODA.

Automated fare collection systems using magnetic stripe plastic tickets were installed; air-conditioned trains added; pedestrian walkways between Lines 1, 2, and 3 were completed.

[40] A two-station, 3.8-kilometer (2.4 mi) extension of Line 2 eastward from Marikina up to Masinag, Antipolo in the province of Rizal opened to the public on July 5, 2021, six years after construction began in 2015.

[41] First proposed by SNC-Lavalin, the south extension of Line 1 has 8 stations over 11.7 kilometers (7 mi) ending in Bacoor in the province of Cavite.

Built by a joint venture between Hanjin and Itochu, Line 2 stations have wheelchair ramps, braille markings, and tactile paving leading to and from the boarding platforms in addition to escalators and elevators.

[61][62][63] As part of the south extension of the line, 30 new trains built in Spain and Mexico by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles and Mitsubishi Corporation were procured in 2017.

[65] Line 2 fleet runs eighteen heavy rail four-car trains with lightweight stainless car bodies and alternating current traction motors.

[93] However, plans for a unified ticketing system using smart cards have languished,[94] leaving the Flash Pass to fill the role for the foreseeable future.

Originally sold by both the LRTA and the Metro Rail Transit Corporation, the Blue Line operator, the pass was discontinued with the election of Benigno Aquino III as President of the Philippines in 2010.

[95] The card and coupon were used by showing them to a security guard at an opening along the fare gates, who after checking their validity allowed the holder to pass through.

[93] Beep is a reloadable contactless smart card aimed to be a replacement for the magnetic card-based system in paying rail based rapid transit transportation fares in and around Metro Manila.

Current fare levels were set on August 2, 2023, after its initial implementation by April 2023 was deferred by President Bongbong Marcos as economic inflation remained a major concern.

[100] These lower fares—which are only slightly more expensive than jeepney fares—ended up being financed through large government subsidies amounting to around ₱25–45 per passenger,[101] and which for both the MRT and LRT reached ₱75 billion for the 10-year period between 2004 and 2014.

[103] Plans for expanding the LRTA network have been formulated throughout its history and successive administrations have touted trains as one of the keys to relieving Metro Manila of its long-standing traffic problems.

[105] Line 2 is planned to be extended both further eastward to Cogeo, continuing from its eastern expansion to Antipolo, and westward from Recto up to the Manila North Harbor in Tondo.