The management of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 yesterday said 20 trains are expected to be deployed next month when the new contractors, Sumitomo Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, take over the maintenance of the train system.
Aly Narvaez, MRT media relations officer, said 20 running trains will be deployed during morning and evening rush hours from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to cut long queues.
Narvaez said the 20 trains of the MRT 3 can accommodate the current ridership of the train system which is 540,000 passengers daily.
Based on data from the MRT, the maximum actual ridership of the MRT was 622,880 in August 2012.
Narvaez said this means that even if the MRT deploys 20 trains with three cars, it cannot accommodate the growing ridership of the train line.
She said the MRT management aims to raise the number of cars per train set from three to four.
“Once we achieve this, we can service 700,000 to 900,000 passengers daily,” she said.
DOTr Undersecretary Timothy John Batan earlier said the ideal number of running trains for the MRT is 20 to accommodate 550,000 commuters daily.
He said the two contractors from Japan will replace Busan Universal Rail Inc.
Batan said the rehabilitation program would take for about three years, but he assured commuters the MRT will have better services by December since engineers will rehabilitate first the critical components of the MRT such as the motor and signaling system.
The MRT runs from North avenue in Quezon City to Taft avenue in Pasay.
Aly Narvaez, MRT media relations officer, said 20 running trains will be deployed during morning and evening rush hours from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to cut long queues.
Narvaez said the 20 trains of the MRT 3 can accommodate the current ridership of the train system which is 540,000 passengers daily.
Based on data from the MRT, the maximum actual ridership of the MRT was 622,880 in August 2012.
Narvaez said this means that even if the MRT deploys 20 trains with three cars, it cannot accommodate the growing ridership of the train line.
She said the MRT management aims to raise the number of cars per train set from three to four.
“Once we achieve this, we can service 700,000 to 900,000 passengers daily,” she said.
DOTr Undersecretary Timothy John Batan earlier said the ideal number of running trains for the MRT is 20 to accommodate 550,000 commuters daily.
He said the two contractors from Japan will replace Busan Universal Rail Inc.
Batan said the rehabilitation program would take for about three years, but he assured commuters the MRT will have better services by December since engineers will rehabilitate first the critical components of the MRT such as the motor and signaling system.
The MRT runs from North avenue in Quezon City to Taft avenue in Pasay.
