Braking system glitch halts MRT-3 train again; 800 passengers unloaded

It’s still the morning rush hour and yet the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT3) is down to only seven operational trains after two trains have already conked out Wednesday morning.

The latest train hiccup occurred around 9 a.m., dropping off 800 commuters at the southbound section of MRT-3’s Guadalupe Station due to an “electrical failure in our braking system.”

Based on its service report, the disruption was caused by “defective electrical and braking sub-components” like relay, cable, and brake actuator.

Affected passengers had to wait around nine minutes to be able to get on the next train.

Earlier, at around 6 a.m., a northbound train of the MRT-3 unloaded 230 passengers at Magallanes Station after its motor encountered an electrical failure. It took seven minutes for the affected passengers to board the next train.

The unloading incidents brought to just seven the number of working trains by 9:30 a.m., according to the report.

The Department of Transportation had said that spare parts that would increase the reliability of the trains are expected to start arriving only by February.   /kga