UPGRADES ON TRACK The refleeting program of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) gets a boost with the acquisition of three diesel hydraulic locomotives and 15 passenger coaches from
Indonesian manufacturer PT Inka. One of the newtrains is blessed by a priest (inset) and makes an inaugural run on Thursday. It arrives at De la Rosa Station in Makati City, next to another PT Inka
train (painted white), which was shipped in 2019. —RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines — Aside from MRT-3, the LRT-2 and Philippine National Railways will also offer free rides for war veterans to mark the Philippine Veterans Week and Day of Valor, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Wednesday.
“The DOTr offers its rail transit services for free to all Filipino war veterans in observance of Philippine Veterans Week and Day of Valor (Araw ng Kagitingan),” the agency said in a statement.
DOTr said the free train rides are available to war veterans on April 5 (Holy Wednesday) and on April 10 to 12.
Also, the MRT-3 management will allow a war veteran to bring one companion to avail of free train rides on the same given dates.
The Philippine Veterans Week is commemorated from April 5 to 11 annually.
This year’s Day of Valor falls on April 9 or during Easter Sunday, prompting President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to move its commemoration to April 10 (Monday).
The LRT-2, MRT-3 and PNR will halt operations from April 6 to 9 (Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday), to give way for maintenance activities. —Maria Liezl Projella, trainee