Another defective MRT train slows down further trips between stations

MANILA, Philippines – It happened again. A Metro Railway Transit (MRT) train headed southbound stalled anew at the Taft Avenue station on Friday.

This reporter happened to be on one of the trains that stopped at around 9:35 a.m. at the Shaw Boulevard Station in Mandaluyong City where it stayed for about 10 minutes.

The train operator then announced that MRT operations were under a red signal alert due to the defective train at the Taft Avenue station in Manila.

What was usually a 20-minute trip from Shaw Boulevard to Magallanes Station, took almost 40 minutes, as our train would stop for about five minutes in every station.

As of 10:17 a.m., the MRT has not lifted the red signal alert.

The MRT on August 20 implemented ‎the 40-kilometer per hour traveling speed for all its units from the usual 55-60 kilometers per hour.

This was after a wayward MRT train got derailed and went past a barrier in a train depot at the Taft Avenue Station last August 13. At least 38 people were hurt.

The incident was followed by several delays in operations due to defective trains and poor radio communication system.

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