More trains, faster turnaround at MRT
On a daily average, operating on the MRT-3 line are 66 Light Rail Vehicles out of 72 LRV. The remaining 6 LRV are undergoing general overhauling
The Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) expects to operate more trains and faster turnaround time ahead of the completion of its rehabilitation by year-end.
MRT-3 Director for Operations Michael Capati recently reported that its Japanese maintenance contractor, Sumitomo Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Ltd. fast tracked the train lines’ rehabilitation.
Capati noted that the MRT-3 rehabilitation project has significantly increased the number of operational trains — with an all-time high of 22 running trains on 21 September 2020.
On 17 January, the MRT-3 further broke its record and set the new highest record of 23 running trains on the mainline.
“This is a major leap from the usual 10 to 15 running trains before the rehabilitation project started in May 2019,” he said.
Before the repair of the railway, the MRT-3 had the all-time lowest number of running trains, with just six operational trains on 24 May 2015.
According to the management, the decline was due to the poor maintenance by its previous provider, which the government had terminated.
On a daily average, operating on the MRT-3 line are 66 Light Rail Vehicles out of 72 LRV. The remaining 6 LRV are undergoing general overhauling.
Meanwhile, from the pre-pandemic figure of 280,000 passengers, the first highest ridership figure during the quarantine period was 168,945 passengers, which was recorded on 15 February.
Last 26 February, the MRT-3 recorded another record-high in the number of passengers on a single day during the pandemic, at 172,665. This is despite the railway’s current percentage of capacity restriction.
In June 2020, the railway increased its passenger capacity to 13 percent or 51 passengers per train car or 153 passengers per train set. This was further increased to 30 percent in October 2020, with 124 passengers per train car or 372 passengers per train set.