Much of the Metrorail system, which openedin 1976, runs below ground, includingasection that goes under the PotomacRiver between WashingtonandVirginia and one that goes over it.
The airport, only about 8 km (5 mi) south of the center of Manila, is well-served by buses and taxis, and there is a Metrorail station about 2 km (1.2 mi) away.
The only other time in Metrorail's 33-year history that there were customer fatalities was in January 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Metrorail stations.