LRT-2 operations suspended after fire incident in Santolan
MANILA, Philippines — (Updated 1:47 p.m.) Operations at the Light Rail Transit-Line 2 (LRT-2) were suspended on Thursday morning after a fire incident caused the burning of its uninterrupted power supply.
Speaking in an interview over Super Radyo dzBB on Thursday, LRTA spokesperson Hernando Cabrera, a lawyer, said that the authority had already deployed groups to investigate the cause of the fire.
He also said that the top priority for the time being is restoring the operations of the trains.
"I don't want to speculate [on the cause] just yet...the cable inside is okay, what they're checking right now is the cable sa outside because that is what they'll connect to the depot," he said.
"But right now, we can operate again, and we can let the trains run again and activate all the systems on the line, but that is prohibited if the control center can't see us," he also said.
Over the coronavirus pandemic, all three rail lines have had to operate on limited capacities in accordance with quarantine protocols to reduce virus transmission.
During the lifting of the enhanced community quarantine in June, transportation officials said that the LRT-2 could only service 40 passengers per train car and 160 per train set, or only 10% of its regular capacity, while the three westward stations of the line from Santolan to Katipunan to Anonas, remain out of commission.
"After lunch they can restore power and at the same time restore our operations but it will be re-checked by our safety officers," Cabrera also said.
Fire also hit LRT-2 in October 2019
In an advisory posted to its official Twitter page on Thursday morning, the Light Rail Transit Authority, which maintains and operates the LRT-2 line, said an investigation to determine if other parts of the system were damaged in the blaze is still ongoing.
"LRT-2 has temporarily suspended operations following a fire incident at Santolan this morning caused by burnt UPS. Investigation and intervention ongoing. Operations will immediately resume after verifying that no other system (equipment) has been affected," the advisory read.
The line's Santolan station was among those left out of commission in October 2019 after another fire at the rectifier-transformer of the line halted the Anonas, Katipunan and Santolan stations.
After initially promising a June 2020 return for the train line's full operations, the LRTA said in response to a user on Twitter on October 2: "We target to restore the Santolan-Anonas segment by three months after the issuance of the Notice to Proceed."
With the date of the repairs left up in the air, it remains to be seen if this most recent fire will affect the restoration of the three stations.
Commuter groups and transport advocates said in an earlier Philstar.com story that commuters ultimately carried the burden of reduced transportation options, which pointed to the need for structural change and better inspections of the line.
- Latest
- Trending
