DOTr: Japanese engineers kick off MRT-3 system audit

MRT-3 (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

More than 50 railway engineers and experts from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have started its system audit of the glitch-prone Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3), the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced on Thursday.

 The DOTr said the system audit would determine what was needed to rehabilitate and restore in the MRT-3 system.

 Once the audit is completed, a rehabilitation and maintenance provider to be nominated by JICA would be mobilized in May to fix the transit line, the DOTr disclosed.

  “We obviously need all the help we can get and we are very grateful that the Japanese government answered our call for assistance to rehabilitate and restore the MRT-3 system,” DOTr OIC Undersecretary for Railways TJ Batan said in a statement.

 Batan explained that JICA’s audit was separate from the ongoing independent audit and assessment by TUV Rheinland for the entire MRT-3 system, as well as the new train cars procured from China-based railways firm CRRC Dalian.

 The additional trains were expected to arrive in February as the first batch of spare parts for current MRT-3 trains were scheduled to be delivered and installed in the same month, Batan said.

 “Sec. Tugade ordered the creation of a Special Bids and Awards Committee for MRT-3 to address the urgent need to restore its service, which require the expedited procurement of spare parts, among others,” he added. /je