MRT-3 adds China-made Dalian train to regular fleet

MANILA, Philippines — The first Dalian train set, which can ferry 1,050 passengers per trip, has been added to the regular fleet of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3.

The train set with three coaches will be deployed on an initial trial run starting Tuesday, the Department of Transportation announced.

It will hit the tracks of MRT-3 mainline during evening off-peak hours, from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

DOTr said the deployment of the Chinese-made train comes after Sumitomo Corporation-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-TES Philippines, MRT-3’s Japanese provider, signed a consent for the limited deployment of one train set.

“The said consent indicates that the train set will be deployed for an initial trial period lasting up to when the maintenance provider begins its rail replacement works in November 2019,” DOTr said in a statement.

The agency said only three Dalian trains—equivalent to nine train coaches—have so far completed the necessary commissioning and validation tests, which included the 150-hour run.

The 48 Dalian trains procured by the previous administration, despite being delivered in 2016, mostly remained out of operation due to incompatibility concerns.

The gradual deployment of the first Dalian train set commenced in October 27 last year.