DOTr holds distancing dry run in trains

Amping up on its “social distancing” protocol, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Friday initiated several dry run simulations of the health practice across all railways in the metro, as the capital region braced for lockdown this coming Sunday, March 15.

On Friday morning, commuters of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3, were asked to fall in line and to keep one meter away from one another at all times.

Guards also began policing the number of people going in. Before, commuters were allowed to squeeze in as much as they can.

Dozens per train coach

But dispatches from both transport officials and netizens showed that they were only allowing dozens of people per train coach, particularly in the MRT 3.

Each MRT 3 train set has three cars divided into three subsections. It has the smallest capacity among the four railways traversing the metro (including the Philippine National Railways or PNR), but is often more jampacked and congested because of its proximity to Edsa.

At the PNR stations, which run from Tutuban to Alabang, passengers were asked to sit one chair apart from each other.

The same was being done in the LRT 2 and the private-run LRT 1, currently operated by Light Rail Manila Corp.