The full rehabilitation process on the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3) will be finished by the first quarter of 2021, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Sunday.
The rehabilitation plan of the government will span for 26 months after the Philippines and Japan signed a loan agreement on Thursday.
“Inaasahan nating matatapos by the 26th month, so mula January 2019, magre-rehab ‘yan buong 2019-2020 at hanggang sa 1st quarter ng 2021 at doon matatapos ang kabuuang rehabilitation,” DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said in an interview with dzBB.
Despite the upgrade on the line, Batan has assured the public that there would be no fare increase for the MRT-3.
Part of the rehabilitation process is the rollout of the Dalian trains on the line, Batan said. Currently, one Dalian train has been rolled out on the tracks of the MRT-3.
Batan said that the government still has to ensure the safety of the trains before it could fully rollout other Dalian trains on the line.
“Ang dahilan kung bakit isang train set pa lang napapatakbo natin ay dahil tatlong bagon pa lang ang nakakatapos sa mahabang listahan ng testing and commissioning procedures,” he said.
“Isang buong train set ng Dalian train na binubuo ng tatlong bagon. ‘Yan ay kasalukuyang dumaraan sa gradual deployment at pinapatakbo natin tuwing off peak hours at saka natin titingnan kung pwede natin iakyat during peak hours,” he added.
A new service hours has been set by the MRT-3 management for the Dalian train in order to reach the 150-hour requirement by next month.
On Saturday, the three-coach train of Dalian started to ferry passengers on full operations during weekends. However, on weekdays, the train would only operate on off-peak hours.
A total of 48 Dalian coaches were purchased during the Aquino administration for the MRT-3, but were stored in the MRT-3 depot for three years due to alleged “compatibility issues.” /je
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