Fire disrupts LRT-1 operations

MANILA, Philippines — Trips at the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) were briefly disrupted yesterday after a fire hit a nearby building along Taft Avenue in Manila.

According to the Manila fire district, the fire razed a building at the corner of Rafael Alunan street.

The fire that started at around 9 a.m. only reached first alarm before it was put out 40 minutes later.

On Twitter, the Light Rail Manila Corp. said a “stop for safety” was put in place from Baclaran to Balintawak stations due to the fire near its Vito Cruz station.

Trips resumed at around 9:15 a.m. in all the 19 LRT-1 stations.

MRT-3 cuts trips due to glitch

Meanwhile, the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) implemented a provisional shortening of trips due to a technical glitch yesterday afternoon.

In an advisory around 5:30 p.m., the railways management announced shortened trips from North Avenue to Shaw Boulevard stations and vice versa.

This was after a “technical glitch on the signaling system (was) reported along a track circuit approaching Taft Avenue station,” the advisory read. “Troubleshooting is ongoing. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you.”

The trips were shortened hours after the management announced in a statement the overhauling of 65 of its 72 light rail vehicles (LRVs) to improve its services.

There are seven LRVs left for general overhauling by the maintenance provider Sumitomo-MHI-TESP.