MANILA, Philippines — The Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) said Tuesday that a short circuit caused the smoke inside one of its trains and prompted the unloading of passengers on Monday night.
In a statement, MRT-3 management said that its technicians found the cause of the smoke as a “short circuit in the high voltage wire of [a] traction motor.”
The management said the concerned train was undergoing repair at the MRT-3 depot in Quezon City.
In January last year, another MRT-3 train also emitted smoke due to a problem in its circuit breaker.
An INQUIRER.net live video showed distressed commuters walking towards the platform of the Araneta Center-Cubao station of the MRT-3 after being unloaded on the tracks.
READ: Smoke emission stops MRT-3 train
In September 2017, an MRT-3 train also offloaded its passengers after one of its seats caught fire.
READ: MRT seat catches fire, off-loads passengers
Despite those incidents, the management maintained that all of its trains undergo inspection before being deployed.
It also said that the train in Monday’s offloading incident was in “good condition” prior to its deployment.
“Ginagawa ito upang masiguro na ligtas itong sakyan ng mga pasahero. Base sa aming records, in good condition ang nasabing traction motor nang isalang ito sa mainline,” the management said.
Following the incident, train management disclosed that new traction motors had been bought and were expected to be delivered in two months.
At 6:02 p.m. on Monday, 645 passengers were forced to walk on the tracks between the Cubao and Santolan stations after a train emitted smoke. /cbb
READ: MRT-3 unloads passengers after train emits smoke