Longer wait for ‘hot’ LRT 2 riders

The 240,000 riders of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 are in for a longer wait in between trains starting this week.

The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) has announced that the number of operating trains will go down from 10 to nine every five days to give way to the installation of air-conditioning units.

To avoid being inconvenienced, commuters were advised by the LRTA to “leave their homes earlier than usual” as the expected interval between trains would go up from seven to 10 minutes.

Since last year, the LRT Line 2 had been dealing with malfunctioning air-conditioning units that LRTA Administrator Reynaldo Berroya had attributed to systematic deterioration due to poor maintenance.

With their cooling capacities below 50 percent because of the sweltering heat, most of the units were already beyond repair and needed to be overhauled, he added.

The LRTA has already bought 80 air-conditioning units for the 10 trains (eight for each four-coach train set) from South Korea-based Multiscan Corp.-MRail Inc. Joint Venture for P350 million.

The units, which are more environment-friendly and compliant with the Clean Air Act, are expected to have a life span of over 15 years, Berroya told reporters.

The installation of the air-conditioning units would take five days per train.