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MANILA, Philippines — The Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) announced Tuesday it will suspend operations on four weekends from July to September to expedite rail replacement works.
In a Twitter post, the MRT-3 management said the suspended weekend operations will cover July 4 and 5, August 8 and 9, August 21 and 23, and September 12 and 13.
“Rail replacement works to be done during the weekend suspension include turnout works for both the southbound and northbound tracks at North Avenue and Taft Avenue stations. Turnouts are used to enable trains to switch from one track to another,” MRT-3 explained.
After the completion of rail replacement works, MRT-3 said its train operating speed will increase from 40 kilometers per hour (kph) to 60 kph by December 2020.
It added that the headway, or the interval between trains, will gradually decrease to 3.5 minutes.
“The weekend suspension of operations will also enable Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the service provider for MRT-3’s comprehensive rehabilitation, to perform rail destressing, rerailing, turnouts replacement, resurfacing, rail profile grinding, ballasting and tamping, and other major works for MRT-3’s trains, electrical systems, and other subsystems,” MRT-2 further said.
The Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s bus augmentation program will accommodate MRT-3’s weekend passengers, it added.
The light rapid transit system serves more than half a million commuters daily.