When I first stepped into Quezon Avenue Station, the first thing I thought was “Wow, I must be in the wrong country.” Besides the new station colors, there were wayfinding signs right above the turnstiles, icons that accompanied these wayfinders, the restrooms looked pristine, and the feel of the station overall was friendly and welcoming. It was a surreal experience going from station to station and seeing the 12th station from Taft Avenue be this good. When I took the elevators down, it was the same sentiment. The access routes to them were spacious and followed the Universal Design Principle: Size and Space for Approach and Use. Truthfully, this felt like the station that many commuters deserved.
I was so intrigued as to why this station was so different from the rest that I decided to do some digging. It turns out Quezon Avenue Station is the pilot station for the new Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Department of Finance (DOF) agreement that plans to put the entire MRT-3 line into rehabilitation and maintenance which will be implemented by the Department of Transportation (DOTr). The agreement was for ¥21.6 billion, roughly ₱8.2 billion, and was signed last March 3, 2026. The first station was renovated during the railway station’s closure on Holy Week and the known upgrades are new wayfinding signs and icons, cleaner and – from personal observation – more accessible restrooms, and upgraded ventilation. The program’s target completion date is around October 2027, which is 19 months after the official signing and 18 months after the first station’s rehabilitation. As of July 26, 2026, we still only have one station whose rehabilitation is being closely monitored by the DOTr. If all goes well and the timeline is followed correctly, the remaining 12 stations should be here in 15 months, hopefully.

This rehabilitation program is simply one half of the DOTr’s ways of improving the Philippines’ railway system; the other is the Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) which was made public last January 14, 2026. I was able to speak with Sir Darryl Loyola, Senior Transportation Development Officer, Rail Transport Planning Division, Planning and Project Development, DOTr, who provided a draft of the document before it was released to the public. As it stands, while the earlier program aims to change certain aspects of the architecture of the MRT-3 stations, the ATP aims to work around it by ensuring there is a service substitution offered for any shortcomings a station might have. As Sir Darryl stated, “…we are more on improving the services for now since for the structure there are only limited actions we can take.” It’s important to note that the JICA-DOF agreement and the ATP are two separate programs and policies respectively, but both need to be actively implemented in every station before we can deem it truly accessible.

While both programs are now public knowledge and the pilot station is in motion, some stations still lack one or both programs. In my journey to survey all 13 stations, I found that many are compliant with most accessibility standards. Service gates, ramps, boarding assistance, and PWD waiting zones are all universally present. However, not every station passes the continuity check. From my own findings last July 23, 2026, Ortigas station has an elevator on the southbound platform but is missing an elevator on the northbound side. Meaning if you’re a person who is from the southern stations and a wheelchair user then there are stairs and an escalator between you and the ground floor. This exact gap is the kind of thing the ATP would require to be disclosed and have a staff member ready to assist — but MRT-3 is still in transition, so on July 23 there was neither.

My journey to the MRT-3 system includes the LRT-1 to MRT-3 interconnection which has a mountain of stairs that many commuters struggle with. As Sir Darryl said, “As a daily commuter, I also experience that as well.” The proposed solution is the EDSA Greenways project which aims to build elevated walkways with elevators and escalators, but as of now, construction hasn’t started.