DOTr: No glitches but fewer MRT-3 trains

 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) bragged that the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) has had “zero passenger unloading” incidents during the last week of February.

The agency, however, has yet to address its failure to provide the required 15 operational trains.

On its Facebook page (Department of Transportation-Philippines), the DOTr said that it recorded zero unloading incidents from Feb. 22 until 28, which is “an all-time high” since its Maintenance Transition Team (MTT) took over in 2017. 

The DOTr said that the positive development on the MRT-3 was due to the arrival of spare parts. 

But based on the MRT-3’s daily monitoring report, it showed that the rail line can only deploy eight to nine operational trains, which is five to six trains fewer than the required 15 running and operational trains. 

Aly Narvaez, media relations officer of the MRT-3, said that despite the improvements in their operation, they still acknowledge the need to address other issues hounding the rail line’s operation and other related technical problems. 

Narvaez said the MRT-3 plans to overhaul at least 45 cars or 15 trains during the Holy Week.