DOTr blames former maintenance provider BURI for MRT-3 woes

Long queues of passengers make their way inside an MRT train. FILE PHOTO

With only seven trains operational, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) blamed on Thursday the previous service maintenance provider of the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) for the problems plaguing the transport system.

The DOTr said that Busan Universal Rail Incorporated (BURI) failed to provide enough supply of spare parts and to refurbish the number of trains that the department required.

“Bigo ang BURI, bilang dating maintenance provider ng MRT-3, na panatilihing sapat ang supply ng spare parts at maiayos ang kalagayan ng mga bagon,” the DOTr said in a statement.

(BURI has failed, as the former maintenance provider of the MRT-3, to maintain a sufficient supply of spare parts and to fix the state of the freight cars.)

“Sa halip na makapag-overhaul ng 43 na bagon mula 2016-2017, tatlong bagon lamang ang na-overhaul ng BURI,” it added.

(Instead of overhauling 43 freight cars from 2016 to 2017, only 3 freight cars were overhauled by BURI.)

The number of MRT-3’s operational trains dropped to seven after two trains suffered glitches morning of Wednesday.

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

The DOTr said that since the Maintenance Transition Team took over as the service provider of MRT-3 last Nov. 2017, the department chose to lower the number of operational trains to 15 in order to give focus on the trains that were under maintenance.

Nevertheless, the transport department hopes for a better service as newly purchased spare parts would be delivered by February.

“Kapag dumating na ang mga bagong spare parts, inaasahang unti-unti na muli nating maiaakyat ang bilang ng mga bumibiyaheng tren at mababawasan na rin ang pagtirik ng mga ito habang bumibiyahe,” DOTr noted.

(When the new spare parts arrive, we expect to increase the number of operational trains and to reduce the instances of glitches while in transport.) /je