Guide on How to Buy Train Ticket at the Ticket Vending Machine of Philippine MRT and LRT [with photos]

Traveling via train is still one of the most convenient and efficient way of wandering around places especially in huge cities and provinces like Manila if you don't have your own private cars and thus opted to commute.

Currently there are four lines of rapid transit systems continuously operating in Metro Manila such as the MRT Line 3 which runs along EDSA from Taft Avenue in Pasay City to North Avenue in Quezon City, the LRT Line 1 which runs from Baclaran Station of Paranaque City to Roosevelt Station in Quezon City, the LRT Line 2 runs from CM Recto in Santa Cruz Manila to Santolan Station in Marikina City, and the PNR Train which used to be the longest train system in the Philippines but stopped operations of most of its routes. 

Map of LRT and MRT Trains in Metro Manila as of 2015. From Wikimedia

Although buying tickets is still like lining up to catch a box office number one hit movie during rush-hours, you can still conveniently ride trains in the Philippines by having the stored value card which they call Beep Cards which can be used in MRT and LRT rides and some buses that roams in the metro, or instead of lining up in the ticket counter, buy instead at the ticket vending machinde (TVM) there's no much queue there for sure compared to the ticket counter.

Learn more about how you can avail of special Beep Cards  

Here's the Step-by-step guide on how you can buy Single-journey Train Ticket from the Ticket Vending Machine

1. Select "Single Journey Ticket" if you don't have Beepcard yet, as the name implies it's a one-time-use ticket that you should return at your destination. You can also use the TVM to load your Beep Cards.
   
2. Select your destination from the list of stations indicated by blue dots, the yellow dot indicates your current station, and when you tap your destination of choice, the color will changes to red, and finally tap the "Confirm" button to proceed.
   
3. The TVM will then display the amount you must pay to get the train ticket, all you have to do is insert the money in the machine and wait for it to detect and read the bill you have inserted, sometimes it will reject certain money bills so better prepare other bills such as coins or use another bill instead.
   
4. Wait for the process to complete and get your ticket and change if any. Click on the button "Reciept" if you want to have a copy of it and "OK" if not.
   

Remember the TVM also offers Tagalog Language for Filipinos to better understand it, but the default is English and I think the Tagalog is rarely used since majority of the Filipinos understands well and fluently speaks English.

Don't forget to be always ready when traveling in Manila and learn more about the train system and their respective stations and the tourists spots near them. Here are some links from Wikipedia to start on: MRT 3, LRT 1, LRT 2, and PNR.