LRT trains can run on MRT to solve overloading woes

MANILA, Philippines - The compatibility of the trains of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 to the rail tracks and power supply of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) could provide an immediate solution to the daily overloading problem at the EDSA-bound MRT.

Thompson Lantion, Department of Transportation and Communications Undersecretary for Maritime Transport and department spokesman, said that with the confirmation that the LRT Line 1’s trains can run smoothly at the MRT during a structural gauge test conducted Friday, the DOTC was looking at the possibility of LRT Line 1’s fleet of light rail vehicles being used at the MRT to solve its lack of light rail vehicles (LRVs).

Lantion said the LRT Line 1 has a standby fleet of around 20 LRVs that can be used at the MRT. “They’re already there. We see no reason why we cannot utilize them at the MRT so we can solve the serious safety concerns of daily overloading,” Lantion told The Star.

A second “structural gauge test” conducted Friday by the technical consultant for the MRT-LRT “Closing the Loop” project, Metrolink, found that the LRT Line 1’s trains can run smoothly from its current end-station in Monumento, Caloocan City, straight through the four stations of the MRT-LRT link and into the rail tracks of the MRT at its north-end station at North Avenue.

In a report to the DOTC and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), Metrolink said that the Feb. 5 test showed that the LRT Line 1’s trains can run on the rail tracks of MRT-LRT link and the MRT.

Connect to MRT’s power suply

The trains can also connect to the MRT’s power supply and get stable power supply for its acceleration and even its airconditioning. “The running over the MRT 3 was normal without any tendency of derailment,” Metrolink said in its report.

“Acceleration of the train under MRT 3 power supply was normal. Running behavior of the train on the UIC 54, MRT rail is normal as expected,” it also noted.

It will be recalled that DOTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza earlier said that the MRT-LRT link could be operational by this month.

This, after the construction and rail station construction conducted by contractor First Balfour-DMCI consortium was finished as scheduled last month.

The Closing the Loop project will connect the LRT Line 1 and the MRT at the former’s Monumento Station in Caloocan and the latter’s North Avenue Station in Quezon City through an entirely elevated railway spanning a 5.4 kilometer stretch of EDSA.

The interconnection of the two lines will allow seamless travel all over Metro Manila through the LRT Line 1, the LRT Line 2, and the EDSA-bound MRT.

The project included the construction of three rail stations at the Balintawak interchange, Roose­velt Avenue, and North Avenue.