MRT-3 to give free rides for 1 month
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has announced that the MRT3 will be giving free rides for one month following the successful completion of the rail system’s massive and comprehensive rehabilitation project.
“I’d like to announce that [Transportation] Secretary [Arthur] Tugade decided that the MRT-3 rides will be free hindi naman (not) forever from March 28 to April 30, 2022,” the President said.
President Duterte made the announcement as he graced the completion ceremony of the MRT3 Rehabilitation project last March 22 with Tugade.
Tugade said the free rides will greatly help ease the financial burden of the riding public, especially amid the inflation, rising fuel prices ,and with many Filipino workers now returning to on-site work.
The free ride initiative is expected to complement the improved services of the rail line after the Department of Transportation Railway sector, the MRT-3 management and its maintenance provider, Sumitomo-MHI-TESP,
completed the rehabilitation works last December 2021, two months ahead of schedule.
Following its rehabilitation, the MRT-3 now operates at a speed of up to 60 kph from the previous 25 kph. The number of operational trains have also increased from three to 23. The headway or the waiting time between trains have also been reduced from around 10 minutes to as low as 3.5 minutes.
Under the MRT-3 rehabilitation project, all 72 Light Rail Vehicles
were restored, rail tracks were replaced and rehabilitated. Also upgraded were the line’s power supply, overhead catenary system, communications and signaling system, stations as well as depot facilities and equipment.