MRT to suspend operations on weekends starting July for replacement works
The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) announced on Tuesday that it will be suspending its operations on four weekends from July to September to speed up rail replacement works which will boost the system’s running speed.
In a statement, the MRT-3 management said the railway will be closed on July 4 and 5, August 8 and 9, August 21 and 23, and September 12 and 13, to give way for the replacement of rails which is scheduled to be finished by September.
Upon completion, the train’s operating speed will gradually increase from 40 kilometers per hour (kph) to 60kph by December 2020, while the headway or the interval between trains will be reduced to 3.5 minutes, the management added.
According to the MRT-3, the rail replacement works to be done during the weekend suspension will include turnout works for both the southbound and northbound tracks at the North Avenue and Taft Avenue stations.
Turnouts, the MRT-3 explained, are used to enable trains to switch from one track to another.
“The weekend suspension will also enable Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the service provider for MRT-3’s comprehensive rehabilitation, to perform rail destressing, rerailing, turnouts replacement, resurfacing, rail profile grinding, ballasting and tamping, and other major works for MRT-3’s trains, electrical systems, and other subsystems,” it added.
Last month, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced that it is targeting to complete all rail replacement activities in MRT-3 by September this year.
The separtment said this is several months ahead of the rail system’s February, 2021 target date after it fast tracked the rehabilitation works during the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine which began mid-March.
As many train passengers will be affected by the suspension of train services, the MRT-3, with the DOTr and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, assured the riding public that a bus augmentation program will be implemented.