MRT-3 worsening P3.5 B daily traffic

MRT-3’s trains are diminishing. Last week only seven trains ran, less than a third of the original fleet. As half-a-million people vied for rides on rush hours, long slow queues spilled out from the 13 stations onto side streets. More buses have had to be fielded on E. delos Santos Avenue, Mega Manila’s main artery that MRT-3 traverses. When EDSA clogs up, so does the entire megalopolis from North to South Expressways. That traffic costs the national capital P3.5 billion in fuel, pollution, and opportunity losses per day. The World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency separately reiterate that.

Transport U-Sec for Railways Timothy John Batan promises to fix things by end-Mar. Supposedly the replacement Such sleaze had deteriorated MRT-3 starting 2012. Batan is duty-bound to reverse it today, for riders’ safety, convenience, and comfort.

Train parts and components are not sold off the shelf. Most need to be specially molded and assembled at the factory to fit MRT-3’s Czech-made coaches. Those are quality-checked, packed and delivered, then installed and tested by technicians of the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). Ordering to commissioning takes four to six months. Documentation is tedious: DOTr-MRT-3 must ascertain the delivery, origin, quantity, and quality of each part; and certify the installation and test-run. Because the OEMs had blacklisted MRT-3’s three past upkeep outfits, the commuter rail must today pay-on-order.