BURI says MRT still safe despite glitches, inconvenience

The former maintenance provider of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) on Wednesday said the glitched-marred train has not yet reached a point that it would endanger its passengers.

Busan Universal Rail, Inc. (BURI) internal legal counsel and spokesperson Atty. Charles Mercado said that the MRT3 despite its design flaws is still "safe" and "usable" but will definitely continue to bring inconvenience to the riding public if its rails would not be replaced.

"'Pag safety, until now safe pa rin naman, usable pero grabe yung inconvenience. Kasi unless palitan mo yung rails, hindi mo mapapabilis yung tren," Mercado said in a press conference.

"Hahaba ang pila, babagal ang dating ng tren bawat station unless palitan mo yung rails. Palitan mo nga ng bago yung aircon, though yung rails ganon pa rin, masissira yung aircon," he added.

"Kung safety lang din ang involved,  I don't think that we have reached that level that it endangers the riding public. Pero grabe talaga yung inconvenience," he continued.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has been in charge of the maintenance of the MRT3 after it terminated its contract with BURI on November 6 which covers the general overhauling of 43 Light Rail Vehicles (LRV), the total replacement of the signaling system, and other additional maintenance works.

The MRT3 serves an estimated 500,000 passengers daily. It had repeatedly unloaded passengers citing "technical problem."

Last week, one of the MRT3 coaches detached from the train running northbound from the Ayala Station to Buendia Station prompting the evacuation of at least 140 passengers.

This then led to suggestions that the DOTr should consider the temporary shut down of the operations of MRT3 to fix the system's numerous and repeated glitches. -NB,GMA News