Probe LRT, MRT accidents, solon says

THE HOUSE of Representatives should look closer into the series of mishaps involving two lines of the overhead light rail transit system since the start of the year to determine whether the government should let the private sector take over their operations.

Representative Arnel Ty of the partylist group LPG Marketers’ Association filed House Resolution No. 1159 urging the House committee on transportation to investigate the accidents involving the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 which runs from Baclaran to Roosevelt Avenue in Quezon City and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT).

“We have to root out these mishaps and malfunctions in the interest of public safety. We want to avert potentially bigger disasters that might harm more commuters, whether as a direct result of an accident, or as an offshoot of an ensuing stampede among a crowd of passengers,” Ty said.

He cited five incidents that needed to be investigated – the derailment of two coaches in February and a brake malfunction last month for the LRT Line 1; the breakdown of an escalator in January, a brake failure also in January and the decoupling of a train coach last month for the MRT.

LRT 1 is managed by the state-owned Light Railway Transit Authority while the MRT 3 was put up by Metro Rail Transit Corp. under a build, lease and transfer scheme with the government.

Ty said the accidents had led to more financial losses for the government on top of the billions of pesos in fare subsidies granted annually to the mass transport system.