Santa Mesa station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in the city of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is one of two stations (the other is Pasay Road) in the line to have its own access road. The station is the fourth station southbound from Tutuban and is the only railway station serving Santa Mesa. In addition to having its own dedicated access road, Santa Mesa station is also one of three stations (the others being Pasay Road and España) to have its original platforms extended and raised in order to accommodate new PNR diesel multiple units. The original platforms have been retained for the use of Commuter Express locomotives and especially for intercity trains, although Santa Mesa is not designated as a station where these trains can stop. The station used to serve the Santa Mesa-Mandaluyong branch line, also known as Guadalupe line, which used to run up to Antipolo and Montalban. This line has since been dismantled.

History

Santa Mesa was opened on December 22, 1905 as a station originally situated on the Antipolo and Montalban lines. From this station, the Main Line South, as well as its subsequent branch lines which were later abandoned (Naic and Carmona, Cavite; Batangas; Bay, Santa Cruz and Pagsanjan, Laguna; Canlubang, Laguna), branched out southwest from the line heading east southeast to Antipolo and Montalban. Main Line South was constructed not long afterward and was the first railway line of Manila Railroad Company (MRR, later PNR) crossing the

Pasig River The Pasig River ( fil, Ilog Pasig) is a water body in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. Stretching for , it bisects the Philippine capital of Manila and its surrounding urban area into northern and southern halves. Its ...

, with Pandacan and all the oil refineries and other branch lines, including one right to the former site of Philippine Vegetable Oil Company in Santa Mesa, being constructed right after the Pasig River bridge.

Station Layout

Nearby landmarks

The station is near landmarks such as the Santa Mesa Public Market,

SM City Sta. Mesa SM City Sta. Mesa, formerly known as SM Centerpoint, is a shopping mall located at Magsaysay Boulevard corner Gregorio Araneta Avenue, Barangay Doña Imelda, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the second SM Supermall, second in Quezon ...

Puregold Puregold Price Club, Inc. or simply Puregold (stylized as PUREGOLD) is a chain of supermarkets in the Philippines trading goods such as consumer products (canned goods, housewares, toiletries, dry goods, and food products, among others) on a ...

Sta. Mesa, the main campus of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), the

Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology The Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (commonly referred to as EARIST; Filipino: ''Kolehiyong Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez sa Agham at Teknolohiya'') is a public college in Santa Mesa, Manila in the Philippines. It was ...

(EARIST), the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School, and the Philippine headquarters of the

Tzu Chi Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, known for short as the Tzu Chi Foundation ( zh, t=佛教慈濟慈善事業基金會, p=Fójiào Cí Jì Císhàn Shìyè Jījīn Huì, l=Buddhist Compassionate Relief Charity Foundation), is a Taiwanese in ...

Foundation.

Transportation links

Santa Mesa station is accessible by

jeepneys Jeepneys (), sometimes called jeeps (), are minibus-like public utility vehicles, serving as the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They are known for their crowded seating and kitsch decorations, which have become ...

and buses plying the Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard route. Several

cycle rickshaw The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport. It is a type of hatchback tricycle designed to carry passengers on a for-hire basis. It is also known by a variety of other names such as bike taxi, velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, ...

terminals are also located near the station. A Line 2 station, Pureza, is a short walk from Santa Mesa station. Alternately, commuters may opt to ride

tricycles A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes ...

to there.

Reconstruction

Santa Mesa station will be reconstructed as part of the

North–South Commuter Railway The North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR), also known as the Clark–Calamba Railway, is a urban rail transit system under construction in the island of Luzon, Philippines. Running from New Clark City in Capas to Calamba, Laguna with 36 sta ...

. The two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

s at the new station building's fifth level will be the highest in the world from ground level at , exceeding

Smith–Ninth Streets station The Smith–Ninth Streets station is a local station on the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway. It is located over the Gowanus Canal near the intersection of Smith and Ninth Streets in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and is served by the F and G ...

's .

References

{{SRTS Philippine National Railways stations Railway stations in Metro Manila Railway stations opened in 2009 Buildings and structures in Santa Mesa