Interviews by Rui Pastorin
At the LRT Barra Station, only a few shops that have been operating there for the past few months can be found. Souvenirs, food and specialty items like trading cards and perfumes are among the limited items currently available to commuters at the station or those making their way down to the Barra Public Transport Interchange.
What has it been like for the shops doing business in the area? Two shops told the Post about their experiences, highlighting a need for more promotion.
Lao has been running a trading card and model kit shop at the station for the past six months, with his interest in setting up a business there mainly stemming from the surrounding environment. “It’s quite good, quite nice…you have the garden, the station, and it’s peaceful”.
The business caters to a specific group of customers, with Lao pointing out: “We’re not mainly focused on tourists. We focus more on the users”. Sales have not been the highest, Lao said. And in terms of visibility, Lao said that some customers may already know where the business is due to promotion on social media, but added that support in further promoting businesses in the area is needed.
“I think we need some more promotion here from the government [and] from the LRT station. They need more promotions to tell people that there are shops here”, adding that so far, “not so many people know about it”.
Asked whether or not he expects sales to improve during the coming Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday period, he said they might just remain the same. But there is a chance that the situation might improve in the following months with more effort put into promotion, at least at their end. “Maybe more people will know there are shops here. Maybe more people will come”.
A representative from a local brand that sells perfumes, along with items like various soaps, was more optimistic about sales during the coming holiday, noting that it might just be “a bit better”.
The 40-year-old said that their shop at the Barra LRT station sees customers comprising both tourists and locals, though there are, comparatively speaking, not that many. However, she mainly attributed this to being a relatively new shop as they have only been open for around five months. However, like Lao, she also noted that not many people are aware that there are shops at the station, noting that mainly people who have been customers of the brand, or tourists passing by, know the products
At the moment, she thinks that there has not been much done to promote the shops in the area, but highlighted that as a whole, her local brand shop has been taking the initiative in joining events like the Macao International Trade & Investment Fair (MIF)to promote themselves.
LRT sees an average of 30,000 passengers daily in Jan
The Macao Light Rapid Transit Corporation Limited website notes that the average number of passengers transported daily last month stood at 30,000 passengers, 4,700 passengers more than in the corresponding period in 2025.
Moreover, the data on the website highlights that the period from September through November saw the highest average number of passengers per day in 2025, with the figures standing at 30,600, 30,800 and 32,600 passengers a day in September, October and November respectively.
This photo taken yesterday shows the LRT Barra Station from above. – Photo: Rui Pastorin
