MRT-3 cuts operation hours short for weekend repairs

MANILA, Philippines - The Metro Rail Transit 3 will cut short its operating hours from Saturday to Sunday to give way for the much-needed rehabilitation and repair work of the railway system, the Department of Transportation and Communications said Thursday.

 

"We will conduct the first of a series of rail replacement works over the coming weekend. We are doing this to enhance safety and minimize glitches, and we chose this schedule to mitigate inconveniences to the riding public," DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya said.

 

The MRT operations will be closed from 9 p.m. this Saturday until 12 noon on Sunday.

 

"We will use 150 meters' worth of stabling rails from the depot to replace the more critical portions of the mainline between Taft Avenue and Magallanes," MRT-3 general manager Roman Buenafe said.

 

Stabling rails are the end-portion of the tracks located within the MRT-3 depot, and are intended to be used as parking facilities for light rail vehicles (LRVs) which are not running. 

 

LRVs run on the stabling rails at less than five kilometers per hour until they come to a full stop, without any passengers on board. Meanwhile, LRVs carrying passengers run on the mainline rails that need to be replaced at speeds ranging from 15 to 40 kph.

 

"I proposed to switch the worn-out mainline rails with the stabling rails in the interest of MRT-3 passengers," Buenafe said. 

 

The DOTC and MRT-3 will calculate how many more early-close, late-open weekends will be implemented in the coming months based on the time-and-motion study to be conducted during the actual works this weekend.

 

Meanwhile, the transport agencies will also receive the recently-procured 7,296 linear meters' worth of brand new steel rails by June 2015. These will be used for further rail replacement works later this year.