Lightning strikes LRT power line, disrupts operations

The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) shut down Monday for several hours two of its Line 2 stations after lightning damaged the power cable that supplies electricity to the trains.

At 11:10 a.m., lightning struck the catenary wire at the Santolan station’s reversing track where the trains switch from the eastbound to the westbound tracks in preparation for their return trip. No one was reported injured or killed as a result.

However, the LRTA was forced to suspend operations at the Katipunan and Santolan stations with trains running only from the Anonas to Recto stations and vice versa.

LRTA personnel failed to immediately repair the damage due to bad weather although operations returned to normal at 3:30 p.m.

According to LRTA spokesperson Hernando Cabrera, the Santolan station is located in a lightning-prone area.

Although the station is equipped with a “lightning arrester” which acts like a fuse to protect the line from further damage in case of lightning, “this one was just too strong. Our arrester could not handle it,” he said.