The operators of the Macau Light Rapid Transit (MLRT) system have revealed that its new Taipa line carried almost 69,000 passengers during its first three days of operation.

The MLRT finally opened to the public last Tuesday, more than 10 years after it was first announced, but it appears to have been worth the wait. According to numbers released by the Macao Light Rapid Transit Corporation, Limited (MLM), 15,600 people used the MLRT on opening day, rising to 26,400 on day two and 26,800 on day three.

The LRT is seen as a vital piece of infrastructure for Cotai’s IR operators given the lengthy distances between many of the area’s integrated resorts.

The initial Taipa line boasts 11 stops covering the central residential, old town and tourism areas in Taipa and connects with the three major ports of sea, land and air in Macau.

Notably for Macau’s casino operators, the route runs directly past Wynn Palace, City of Dreams, MGM Cotai, Studio City, Sands China’s cluster of the Parisian, Sands Cotai Central and the Venetian and Galaxy Macau before continuing on to Taipa.

Construction work on Macau’s LRT began in 2011 but the project was hampered by a series of delays and exploding costs. Originally budgeted at MOP$4.2 billion (US$521 million), the final construction cost of the Taipa line almost tripled to around MOP$11 billion (US$1.36 billion).

[Editor：Diana Chin]

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