World's Most Dangerous Train??

World's Most Dangerous Train??

Yes, dear reader,   WMDT, the PNR Manila local, written up on some blogs and travel sites as ....THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS TRAIN!

Yep, we've read of the ancient and poor carriages, the crazy passengers, the vile rubbish that is hurled at the train as it goes thru squatter areas......well, it's not like that any more !!

Seems it's had a rebirth; new carriages, new engines, new platforms but the windows are still covered with heavy wire mesh. The route makes little sense to me but I am not a local.....and judging by the level of patronage it must be going somewhere important to someone as both trips I took were full.



You had your afternoon student/ working women trip from Blumentritt and return was your fellas special; LOTS of men I assume from the expressway, malls and factories around Caloogan.


Never had a problem...never looked like having a problem.

Platforms were clean and freshly painted, signs were a combination of blackboard and photocopy. Security milled diligently about as people swapped pesos for tickets.

The carriages were similar inside to the Manila LRT; you sat on simple plastic bench seats facing across to each other. Effective hand grips were in centre for standees. Carriages had route maps marked; there was even room for disabled.




The journey was...well, a train journey like any other. People came, went, chatted, texted, snoozed or, like me, just sat and rubber-necked.

Here's the crowd at the end of the route and some serious warnings in Red and Black for you train smokers and eaters out there.

And the end of the line itself???

Ok, so where's the thrill??? It was about 20 metres away, just after the track became a produce stall.

Still lots of track to go , so how does an enterprising young fella turn a peso? Easy....make your own train ! You'd want something light, human power, room for a few riders and you'd want to use scrap materials to make it ............and it would look like this.

Ok, so carriage wheels aren't easy to get so....you use old truck and car bearings; like this .

And you'd want to put some passengers on it which would look like this.....and you would provide power by scooting along Flinstone Style.

And, after a hard day's scootering passengers up and down the line, you'd want to sit back with the local kids and smile at the idiot tourist taking your photo..