Broken rails limit MRT trips

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Rail Transit (MRT) commuters were inconvenienced anew after the trains’ operation was shortened during Tuesday morning’s rush hour due to broken rails.

The broken rails were detected between the MRT’s Magallanes and Taft stations at past 6 a.m., MRT general manager Roman Buenafe said.

The rail line limited its trips to and from its North Avenue and Shaw Boulevard stations.

The MRT resumed full operations at around 7:30 a.m. after workers put fishplates and C-clamps on the affected rails and imposed a speed restriction of 15 kilometers per hour for trains passing on these rails.

A fishplate is a metal bar that is bolted to the ends of two rails to join them together in a track while C-clamp is a device used to hold a metal piece.

Buenafe said the MRT’s operation has never been “normal” since he assumed the post of general manager in January.