MRT-3 breaks down not once but thrice

THREE trains of the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) bogged down during rush hour on Monday morning, forcing passengers to alight and wait for the next ride.

At 8:02 a.m., passengers of a southbound MRT-3 train were forced to alight at the Santolan-Annapolis station due to a breakdown.

Two minutes later, a northbound train also unloaded its passengers at the Ortigas station for the same reason.

Normal operations in both directions, however, resumed at 8:07 a.m., according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) website.

Almost two hours later though, at 9:52 a.m., another northbound MRT-3 train unloaded its passengers at the Buendia station after experiencing train failure. Operations resumed two minutes later.

The MRT-3 has experienced at least 10 train failures since Monday last week. At press time, the DOTr has yet to issue an statement on why the trains broke down.

The MRT-3 ferries over half a million passengers per day alone although it was designed to carry just 350,000 passengers. Overcapacity has been cited as one for the reasons for its frequent breakdowns.