MRT-3 to resume operations on July 13 with ’sufficient’ virus-free personnel

FILE — Scenes during the resumption of the MRT-3 operations at the North Avenue Station in Quezon City on June 1, 2020. Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Rail Transit-3 will resume operations on a limited capacity on Monday, July 13 after recording a “sufficient number” of train personnel who are negative for COVID-19.

In a statement on Saturday, the metro railway’s management said 1,093 depot personnel and 1,010 station personnel were free from the coronavirus disease. A total of 1,308 train personnel are required to “resume train operations on a limited number of train sets.”

MRT-3 said 12 train sets including 2 Dalian train sets will be deployed during its resumption.

“The first train set will be dispatched at 5:30 AM from the North Avenue station to the Taft Avenue station,” read the statement.

Passengers will fill out health declaration forms before boarding the train to help secure their information for contact tracing, it added.

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Aside from passengers, MRT-3 management will also regularly check health declaration forms of its employees.

MRT-3 temporarily stopped its operations last Tuesday after more than 100 employees including ticket sellers were infected with the coronavirus disease. During this time, COVID-19 testing of train personnel is still ongoing.

Latest update from the Department of Transportation showed that 281 MRT-3 personnel were diagnosed with the coronavirus disease.

Of the 281, 184 are depot personnel, 88 are station personnel, nine are control center personnel.

CFC