Limited MRT-3 operations to restart Monday
MANILA, Philippines — Operation of the Metro Rail Transit-Line 3 are set to resume once more starting Monday, July 13, albeit on limited capacity, the transportation department said.
The MRT-3 said it would also be dispatching 12 train sets to ply along the rail line, which will include ten of the standard CKD train sets and two Dalian train sets, with the first set being dispatched at 5:30 a.m. from North Avenue up to Taft Avenue.
In a statement sent to reporters Saturday evening, the Department of Transportation said that the train line's management was able to assemble a sufficient number of employees who tested negative for the coronavirus, signaling a green light for a return to operations.
"Meanwhile, the MRT-3 Bus Augmentation Program will continue to deploy 90 buses with a 3-minute fixed dispatching interval. It will however return to normal operating hours, with the first bus departing at 5:30 AM and the last bus at 8:00 PM from both the North Avenue and Taft Avenue stations," the department's statement read.
"In addition, 190 buses are being deployed under the EDSA Busway Service to carry passengers between Monumento and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITx). A mini loop will also run between Timog Avenue. and Ortigas to serve passengers. Shuttle services / mini buses running in the mini loop will be allowed to pick up and drop off passengers at the curbside," it added.
According to the department, 1,093 MRT-3 depot personnel and 1,010 station personnel have tested negative for the new pathogen. The minimum personnel requirement needed to resume limited operations is 1,308, they said.
To recall, the line's management announced that it would be shutting down its operations from Tuesday to Saturday to give way to disinfection of the line's facilities along with a battery of rapid testing for employees after a cluster of positive coronavirus cases was recorded among its ranks, including ticket sellers and depot personnel.
Guidelines from the government's coronavirus task force also stipulate that all depot and station personnel are required to wear full personal protective equipment, while passengers will be required to fill-up health declaration forms before boarding the train for possible contact tracing.
The rail line's employees will also be required to submit health declaration forms twice a day as part of its personnel health check and monitoring initiative. The MRT-3 will also be implementing what it called the ‘five-minute disinfection hustle’ on trains every half loop (at the end stations at the North Ave. Station and Taft Station).
As of Saturday, the transportation department said a total of 281 personnel, including depot, station and maintenance personnel, have contracted COVID-19.
Of which, 184 are depot employees while 88 are station personnel and 9 are train drivers and control center personnel.
MRT-3 management also earlier released the shifts of the MRT-3 station personnel and ticket sellers found to be coronavirus-positive, urging members of the public who may have had close encounters with them to either seek testing or undergo self-quarantine. — Franco Luna
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