15-hour MRT repairs set, starting with broken rails

Following a series of malfunctions that paralyzed its services and infuriated riders recently, the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) will undergo a 15-hour repair this weekend to allow workers to replace broken rails between two of its southernmost stations.

This will be the first of a series of weekend shutdowns from 9 p.m. Saturday until 12 noon Sunday, MRT General Manager Roman Buenafe said Wednesday during a House transportation committee hearing on the state of the 15-year-old elevated railway on Edsa.

The rails between the Taft and Magallanes stations in Pasay and Makati cities will be replaced beginning Saturday. The work will cover a 150-meter stretch of track, the official told the panel chaired by Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento.

MRT intends to finish fixing or replacing broken rails along an estimated six kilometers of track before the end of 2015, Buenafe said.

The Department of Transportation and Communication last week approved the proposal to suspend service for 15 hours every weekend.

The trains’ operations will thus close two hours earlier than usual every Saturday night and start at noon the next day.

Authorities have cited broken rails and the uneven surface of the track as the main cause of frequent slowdowns or sudden stops that had inconvenienced commuters, even injuring some of them.

Buenafe noted that it would be the first time the MRT is undertaking a repair operation on such a scale after experts noted that broken rails could pose a serious danger.

A report submitted by Hong Kong railway operator MTR to the House committee in December warned of dire consequences, including derailment, if the condition of the tracks for such a “high-usage system” is not improved.

More than 500,000 people take the MRT daily, well over its intended capacity of 350,000.