MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is eyeing to
resume the regular operations of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) by
Friday morning due to the ongoing safety inspections following a technical
malfunction that occurred in one of its trains Tuesday night.
Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Cesar Chavez stated that the
safety check is expected to be completed by Thursday evening.
Chavez said the MRT management decided to decrease the number of trains
from 20 to 15 and reduce train speed to 20 km. per hour from the usual 40 kph.
According to the DOTr official, a total of 17 trains are running during
peak hours.
Furthermore, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board
(LTFRB) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) have deployed
84 buses to the MRT stations in North Ave., Quezon Ave., GMA-Kamuning, and
Cubao for southbound passengers and Taft Ave., Magallanes, Buendia and
Guadalupe for northbound passengers.
Passengers may also avail of premium point-to-point (P2P) buses as an
alternative mode of transportation.
“The DOTr, under the leadership of Secretary Arthur Tugade, is
apologizing to our commuters who are experiencing the current delays in the
MRT-3,” Chavez said in a TV interview.
“The safety of our passengers is our paramount concern, that is why we
decided to reduce the trips of the MRT.”
MRT-3 director for operations Deo Manalo has earlier announced that the
railway system will be running on limited operations from 2 p.m. Wednesday
until Saturday.
According to Manalo, a systematic check of the entire MRT-3 fleet is
needed after the axle of the bogey system under the train driver’s coach broke
down, causing a strange sound that was reportedly heard on one of the trains
and strong lateral movement, which could result in train derailment if ignored.
The incident forced the MRT-3 to unload passengers at the Santolan
station at 7:25 p.m. Tuesday, and implement an hour-long provisional service
from Shaw to Taft.
The MRT management decided to decrease the number of operating trains
for the next few days to determine if the axles in the other trains are intact
and do not pose any danger to the riding public.
It appealed for understanding among commuters due to the expected
longer waiting time at stations as queuing hours could increase by as much as
30 percent during peak hours.
“Currently, the MRT-3 management is working double time to ensure the
fast completion of the safety inspection in order to deploy additional trains
so as to minimize the impact of speed reduction,” the management said in its
statement.
The MRT-3 system covers the entire stretch of EDSA from North Ave. in
Quezon City to Taft Ave. in Pasay City, serving more than 500,000 passengers
daily. (Aerol B. Pateña/PNA) posted by Becky D. de Asis-The Redline News Philippines)
No comments:
Post a Comment