Dodged Bullet or Missed Opportunity? A History of Planned Monorails for Manila, 1961–1985

Abstract

This article tells the largely untold history of the unrealized plans to construct a monorail mass transit system in Metropolitan Manila from the 1960s to 1980s, with particular focus on the proposals of a firm called Philippine Monorail Transit Systems, Inc. Besides giving attention to these mostly forgotten plans, this article seeks to contribute to the global history of mass transit technology adoption, showing how hitherto unexplored political dynamics (especially during the particularly volatile Ferdinand Marcos regime) interact with “unbiased” technical feasibility assessments, with the latter becoming moot and academic in light of the primarily financial and political concerns of ultimate decision makers.

KEYWORDS: MONORAIL • MANILA • TRANSPORTATION HISTORY • RAILWAYS • FERDINAND MARCOS