Ortigas station
Ortigas | |||||||||||
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| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | EDSA, Wack-Wack Greenhills Mandaluyong, Metro Manila Philippines | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 14°35′15″N 121°03′24″E / 14.5876°N 121.0566°E | ||||||||||
| Owned by | Metro Rail Transit Corporation | ||||||||||
| Operated by | Department of Transportation | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | MRT Line 3 | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 (2 side) | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
| Connections |  1 Ortigas Future:  4 EDSA | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Structure type | Elevated | ||||||||||
| Parking | Yes (ADB, SM Megamall) | ||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | Bicycle racks (southbound side only) | ||||||||||
| Accessible | Concourse: Southbound entrance only Platforms: All platforms | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Station code | OR | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | December 15, 1999 | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Ortigas station is an elevated Metro Rail Transit (MRT) station located on the MRT Line 3 (MRT-3) system in the Mandaluyong portion of Ortigas Center (under barangay Wack-Wack Greenhills).[1] The station is named after either Ortigas Center or Ortigas Avenue, which is nearby.[2]
Ortigas station is the sixth station for trains headed to Taft Avenue and the eighth station for trains headed to North Avenue, it is the last station in Mandaluyong, before crossing over to Quezon City.[3] The station is notorious for having a narrow sidewalk on its east exit, which forces commuters to squeeze through the sidewalk and its fencing along EDSA due to legal right-of-way issues with the Asian Development Bank and its headquarters next to the station itself.[4][5]
History
[edit]Ortigas station was opened on December 15, 1999, as part of MRT's initial section from North Avenue to Buendia.[6]
Nearby landmarks
[edit]The station serves the Ortigas business district and is interconnected with the Asian Development Bank headquarters. It is near major shopping malls, such as Robinsons Galleria, SM Megamall, The Podium and St. Francis Square Mall; as well as the headquarters of the Meralco, UnionBank, Robinsons Bank and JG Summit Holdings. A few government buildings are also located in the station's vicinity including the central offices of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Migrant Workers, the Ortigas office of the Department of Transportation, and the Philippine Railways Institute, as well as educational institutions like Saint Pedro Poveda College and La Salle Green Hills. The EDSA Shrine, Meralco Theater, Lopez Museum, The Medical City, Eton Cyberpod, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Oakwood Premier hotels are also nearby.[7]
West of the station is the Gate 4 of Wack Wack Village on Berkeley Street, providing access to the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.
Transportation links
[edit]Buses, jeepneys and taxis serve the station, but passengers may board them from either Robinson's Galleria (buses, jeepneys, taxis, UV Express) or SM Megamall (buses, taxis, UV Express). A bus stop of EDSA Carousel is located just next to the station, accessible through the southbound platform. Buses ply both EDSA and Ortigas Avenue routes, while jeepneys ply along Ortigas Avenue for routes heading to Pasig and the province of Rizal to the east, and San Juan and the City of Manila to the west. Passengers bound for Clark International Airport may ride either a Philtranco bus at the back of SM Megamall Building A or a Genesis Transport point-to-point (P2P) bus at Robinsons Galleria.
The station would also be linked to the EDSA station of the future MRT Line 4.
Sidewalk issues
[edit]
Ortigas station is notorious among commuters for having a very narrow sidewalk along EDSA at its east entrance and exit along the northbound direction of EDSA. This is caused by the already-narrow sidewalk along the ADB property which was then occupied by the columns of the station and the escalator to the MRT station. As such, pedestrians and commuters are left no choice but to squeeze through the narrow remainder of the sidewalk in between the escalator, columns, and sidewalk fencing.[4]
During the opening of the line in 1999, the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) stated that the reason behind this was because the Asian Development Bank, whose headquarters is located next to the station, "refuses to give MRTC the right-of-way" due to the ADB property being "quasi-sovereign" land under their agreement with the Philippine government.[5]
On January 19, 2024, the escalator was shut down for maintenance until January 22, causing a swelling of pedestrians and commuters on the narrow sidewalk. Due to this, the sidewalk fencing around the escalator was temporarily moved to partially occupy the EDSA northbound bicycle lane.[8]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "MRT: Manila metro map, Philippines". mapa-metro.com. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ "IDP Manila office address | IDP Philippines". www.idp.com. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ "MRT3 Fare Guide". mrt3.com. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ a b De La Cruz, Christa I. (May 23, 2021). "10 Places on EDSA That Need "Build, Build, Build" for Pedestrians". SPOT.PH. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
- ^ a b Basilio, Jr., Robert (December 13, 1999). "EDSA MRT: 'The other miracle at EDSA'". BusinessWorld. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
Not all stations, however, have elevators because of engineering and legal right of way problems. In the northbound side of the Ortigas station, for instance, the Asian Development Bank refuses to give MRTC the right of way because, it claims that their property has a quasi-sovereign component under their agreement with the country.
- ^ "Miracle rail project to rid Edsa of jams". New Straits Times. The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd. December 15, 1999. Retrieved January 21, 2014 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ Board, Hoppler Editorial (July 22, 2019). "Quezon City Landmarks and Historical Sites". Real Estate Blog - Trending News , Guides, Tips and Articles | Hoppler. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ Malasig, Jeline (January 19, 2024). "'We deserve better': MRT Ortigas crowding underscores need for improved commuter mobility". Interakyson. Retrieved January 19, 2024.