Thursday, February 1, 2018

Japanese engineers start MRT3 system audit

A team of more than 50 railway experts and engineers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will start on Thursday the due diligence and system audit of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3).

The system audit is a vital step to determine all rehabilitation and restoration works needed on the MRT3 system, which will be done by a JICA-nominated rehabilitation and maintenance provider that will be mobilized in May, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said.

“We obviously need all the help we can get and we are very grateful that the Japanese Government answered our call for assistance to rehabilitate and restore the MRT-3 system,” said OIC Undersecretary for Railways TJ Batan.

The system audit by JICA is separate from the ongoing Independent Audit and Assessment by TUV Rheinland, an ISO 17020 and ISO 17065 certified and IFIA member certifier (International Federation of Inspection Agencies) for the entire MRT3 system, including the 48 train cars from CRRC Dalian.

The TUV Rheinland audit commenced on Jan. 3, 2018 and will run for three months.

The DOTr is now implementing a four-point strategy to rehabilitate and restore the MRT-3 system. This involves:
  • promoting accountability
  • ensuring continued service delivery
  • contracting a qualified maintenance and rehabilitation service provider
  • putting in place a long-term, single-point-of-responsibility, operator and maintenance provider

Additional trains may be expected this February since the first batch of spare parts that were ordered last December are scheduled to be delivered and installed this month, Batan noted.

The spare parts that were already ordered have a delivery lead time of 30 days to six months, he said.

“We created a Special Bids and Awards Committee for MRT3 to address the urgent need to restore its service, which requires the expedited procurement of spare parts, among others,” he said.  —VDS, GMA News

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