Govt allots P203M to rehabilitate, repair LRT-1 trains

The government will spend some P203 million to rehabilitate and repair light rail vehicles to service and maintain smooth operations of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1 from Roosevelt in the North and Baclaran in the South.   Twenty-one trains will be rehabilitated while two others will be repaired for the “Green Line,” according to outgoing Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas in a statement.   The Green Line is a 20.7-kilometer, 20-station railway system that serves about 500,000 commuters. It connects with existing train systems:  Line 1 commuters can transfer from Doroteo Jose Station to Line 2’s (Blue Line) Recto Station, while line 3 (Yellow Line) passengers have easy access with Line 1’s EDSA-Taft Station.   The project is part of the P1.062 billion LRT Safety, Reliability and Capacity Improvement Program of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to rehabilitate key components of the LRT system, Roxas said.   The DOTC is inviting bidders for the project.   The procurement program aligns with the DOTC master plan to reengineer the Philippines’ transport system to make it convenient, affordable, reliable, efficient and safe.   The government would spend P150 million to rehabilitate 21 dilapidated BN brand of light rail vehicles.   “The car bodies of these 21 units have corroded and rusted out from the 14 years of use since they were last rehabilitated. Rehabilitation should bring an improved appearance and reliability to the old BN cars,” the DOTC said   Furthermore, another P23 million would be used to restore two 3rd Generation Kinki-Sharyo light rail vehicles involved in separate train collision incidents in Balintawak and Roosevelt that need body repair and replacement of damaged parts to put them in commercial operational condition. — KBK, GMA News