It still suffers from daily breakdowns, but the MRT-3 has suffered fewer glitches in the last 2 months after the government took over its maintenance from a service provider, officials said Wednesday.
Transportation officials reiterated Wednesday that the MRT-3 is still safe to ride despite persistent glitches, saying the EDSA railway's operations have improved since government took charge of its upkeep.
The Department of Transportation terminated the maintenance contract of Filipino-Korean consortium Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) in November last year, saying its poor performance led to chronic service interruptions at the capital's main railway.
Under BURI, glitches forced the unloading of passengers at an average of 39 times per month. This went down to a monthly average of 24 unloading incidents under the watch of state engineers, MRT maintenance head Mike Capati told reporters.
Passenger unloading peaked at 55 incidents in September 2017 and dropped to its lowest at 23 incidents in December, he added.
The government's upkeep of the MRT, however, was marred by a freak accident where a female passenger's arm was severed in early November, and the decoupling of 2 trains days later.
This new year, the MRT has unloaded passengers 8 times so far due to various technical problems.
MRT STILL SAFE
Despite these hiccups, the railway is still safe to ride, Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Timothy John Batan said.
"Sinisigurado po namin na ang pagpapatakbo po namin ng MRT ay safe (We make sure that our operation of the MRT is safe)," Batan said.
He said trains undergo daily checks and their speed has been reduced to 40 kilometers per hour from 60 kph.
"It would be a nightmare for us here at MRT-3 to even think of stopping our operation even for 1 day, considering that there are so many kababayan natin who depend on MRT-3 for their livelihood," added MRT general manager Rody Garcia.
The government is also in talks with Japan to bring back Sumitomo Corp as maintenance provider for the train system that ferries half a million passengers daily, said Batan. -- With reports from Joyce Balancio and Jacque Manabat, ABS-CBN News
Transportation officials reiterated Wednesday that the MRT-3 is still safe to ride despite persistent glitches, saying the EDSA railway's operations have improved since government took charge of its upkeep.
The Department of Transportation terminated the maintenance contract of Filipino-Korean consortium Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) in November last year, saying its poor performance led to chronic service interruptions at the capital's main railway.
Under BURI, glitches forced the unloading of passengers at an average of 39 times per month. This went down to a monthly average of 24 unloading incidents under the watch of state engineers, MRT maintenance head Mike Capati told reporters.
Passenger unloading peaked at 55 incidents in September 2017 and dropped to its lowest at 23 incidents in December, he added.
The government's upkeep of the MRT, however, was marred by a freak accident where a female passenger's arm was severed in early November, and the decoupling of 2 trains days later.
This new year, the MRT has unloaded passengers 8 times so far due to various technical problems.
MRT STILL SAFE
Despite these hiccups, the railway is still safe to ride, Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Timothy John Batan said.
"Sinisigurado po namin na ang pagpapatakbo po namin ng MRT ay safe (We make sure that our operation of the MRT is safe)," Batan said.
He said trains undergo daily checks and their speed has been reduced to 40 kilometers per hour from 60 kph.
"It would be a nightmare for us here at MRT-3 to even think of stopping our operation even for 1 day, considering that there are so many kababayan natin who depend on MRT-3 for their livelihood," added MRT general manager Rody Garcia.
The government is also in talks with Japan to bring back Sumitomo Corp as maintenance provider for the train system that ferries half a million passengers daily, said Batan. -- With reports from Joyce Balancio and Jacque Manabat, ABS-CBN News
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