Senator Nancy Binay. PHOTO FROM THE OFFICE OF SENATOR NANCY BINAY
Sen. Nancy Binay urged on Friday the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT) management to double the number of maintenance and inspections of the train line to ensure passengers’ safety and stable operations in anticipation of the holiday rush.
Binay said it is important that the MRT, which suffers from an almost-daily technical glitch, undergo additional maintenance checks as passenger volume is expected to increase this Christmas season.
“Naiintindihan ko ang posisyon ng DOTr na kailangan tumakbo ng mga tren (I understand the position of the DOTr that the trains need to operate), but the safety of the riding public should always take the front seat. Given the poor state of our mass transportation, especially the MRT, it will be difficult for our kababayans to spread holiday cheer as they face the horrors of their daily commute,” Binay said in a statement.
Aside from increasing maintenance and inspections of the MRT-3, Binay said that the DOTr and the train management should also look into beefing up security checks in all train stations to ensure the safety of train passengers.
READ: P2P buses to help take load of glitch-plagued MRT 3 during rush hours
Binay cited the study conducted by the Mass Transit Railway of Hong Kong in 2014 indicating that the MRT-3 system is at risk of derailment and the track condition requires immediate attention and pointed out the need to overhaul all its trains.
The government has recently terminated the maintenance contract of Busan Universal Rail Inc. due to its poor performance which has been blamed for the train system’s glitches.
“I hope the DOTr was able to review the 2014 study of MTR-Hong Kong which says the state of the MRT-3 railway system is alarming. Ang kaso (The thing is), APT Global, which was the maintenance operator then, ignored the Hong Kong report and reiterated that the MRT-3 rail system is safe,” Binay added.
DOTr said it has now taken over the maintenance of the MRT-3, and has assured the public that it would improve the efficiency of the trains within “three to six months.”
“Let’s give DOTr some leeway to address all the problems of MRT-3. At kung tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang mga breakdown na maaaring mauwi sa aksidente, huwag na nating hintayin pa na may mangyaring di kanais-nais,” the senator said.
(Let’s give DOTr some leeway to address all the problems of MRT-3. If the breakdowns still persist and are prone to accidents, let us no longer wait that something bad will happen.)
“Perhaps the DOTr may consider temporarily suspending its operations to ensure the safety of the riding public,” she pointed out. /jpv
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