MRT Director for Operations Mike Capati. INQUIRER.net/NOY MORCOSO
While the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) is waiting for the delivery of spare parts for the maintenance of its train system, commuters would have to brace themselves for long queues everyday.
But the good news, according to government authorities, is that these spare parts are expected to start arriving in tranches from late February or early March this year.
In a press briefing at the MRT depot in Quezon City on Wednesday, Department of Transportation (DOTr) and MRT officials again appealed to commuters to be more patient as they vowed to implement long-term solutions to technical problems that had been affecting the MRT-3 services.
Transportation Assistant Secretary TJ Batan said that while the bogging down of the MRT-3 system was “newsworthy,” he asked the media to relay to the public that the government has a “broader strategy” to address reliability and safety issues of the trains.
Explaining the long lines experienced by the riders daily, MRT Director for Operations Mike Capati said this was because it is only the MRT-3 that is capable of deploying an average of 13 to 14 trains.
Ideally, however, Capati noted that the number of running trains daily should be from 15 to 18 trains.
“But rest assured, we’re going to meet at least 15 trains, kasi gaya ng sabi ni (Usec. Batan), hindi kami pwedeng mag-akyat ng train na hindi reliable and safe so I hope the public will understand that. We will wait for the spare parts,” Capati said.
Due to the said limitations, Batan said the MRT system at present, despite having the design capacity to accommodate at least 540,000 persons daily, could only cater to 300,000 to 350,000 riders daily.
And because of the current condition of the rails, trains are traveling at a slower pace to ensure the safety of the riders.
“Gumagawa tayo ng compensatory measures para ma-address ‘yung safety issue; Number one ‘yung pagpapatakbo sa tren ng mas mabagal. Ang design speed ng MRT ay 60 kilometers per hour. Ngayon, naga-average ng 40 kph, taking into account ‘yung condition ng riles,” Batan pointed out. /kga