Shortened MRT operation starts this weekend

MANILA, Philippines - Beginning this weekend, operations of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) will be shortened to give way to the replacement of defective railroad tracks, an official said yesterday.

According to MRT-3 general manager Roman Buenafe, train operations tomorrow would start at 4:30 a.m. and end at 9 p.m. and would resume on Sunday from noon until 11 p.m.

The regular schedule of the MRT along EDSA from Quezon City to Pasay City is from 4:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Buenafe explained that the constant operational glitches hounding the MRT trains have prompted them to shorten operating hours to start repair works.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) expects the delivery of additional brand new steel railroad tracks in June as the replacement of old tracks of the MRT starts tomorrow.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the replacement of old tracks would minimize glitches in the light rail system.

The shortened MRT operations would give its workers time to replace a 150-meter stretch of railroad tracks, which Buenafe described as “not in normal condition” between the Magallanes and Taft Avenue stations.

In a committee hearing at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Buenafe said that this is the first rail replacement project of the MRT-3, saying that they would conduct time and motion studies and consult with the firm’s officials to set the schedule of succeeding rail replacement works. – With Lawrence Agcaoili