Poe on operation of Dalian trains: ‘Isn’t that incompetence?’

A prototype of the Chinese-made Dalian coaches (Photo from the Department of Transportation)

MANILA, Philippines – The fact that it took four years for only one set of Dalian coaches to be operational is a “failure,” Senator Grace Poe said Tuesday.

“Hanggang ngayon 2018 na, imbes na 16 trains, isa pa lang ang gumagana. It took them four years. P3.8 billion, four years, tapos isa lang ang gumagana sa 16 trains. Isn’t that a failure? Isn’t that incompetence?” Poe said in an interview with ABS CBN News Channel.

“Even if you say that tomorrow they will have half of it running, I will be so grateful because this is not a political vendetta for anyone; this is for the convenience of the riding public,” she added.

The senator, who chairs the Senate committee on Public Services, was referring to the 48 Dalian coaches acquired from China-based CRRC Dalian Co. Ltd under the Aquino administration.

However, the coaches were stored in the MRT 3 depot for three years due to compatibility issues.

Currently, only one Dalian train set composed of three coaches is deployed during off-peak hours, as part of its ongoing 1,000-kilometer test run to ensure its safety.

READ: MRT-3 sets new operating hours for Dalian trains

The Department of Transportation (DOTr), earlier, said the Dalian coaches must first finish the test run for 150 hours before it can be operated during the peak hour operations of the MRT-3 line.

However, Poe noted that the Dalian trains should have already been tested in China even before delivery to the country.

“So ginawa pa tayong guinea pig dito. Dapat sa China pa lang na-test na nila ‘yan. Tapos pagdating dito we are adding more in terms,” she said.

“Gusto kong malaman how is Dalian compensating to actually make the train compliant to the system that we have?” she added.  /muf