LRT2 offloads riders after 1st glitch of the year

Damaged power lines forced the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2  to offload hundreds of passengers around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, marking the first time it encountered operational problems this year.

The cause was initially reported as an obstruction on the catenary wires or the overhead cables running above the tracks that supply electricity to the trains, said LRT Authority (LRTA) spokesperson Lyn Paragas-Janeo.

But a check made by LRTA engineers showed that the catenary wires between the southbound stations of J. Ruiz and V. Mapa were entangled and needed to be replaced.

Due to the lack of power to over half of the line, the LRTA implemented a partial shutdown starting at noon, with trains running only between the Santolan and Araneta Center-Cubao stations.

Hundreds of passengers were asked to get down from Legarda and Recto stations as a result.

Janeo said the LRT Line 2 which runs from Santolan in Marikina City to C. M. Recto in Manila was expected to resume full operations around 8 p.m. —Krixia Subingsubing