MRT3 to undergo one-week maintenance shutdown in April

The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) is scheduled to undergo a one-week maintenance shutdown next month, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced Tuesday.

In an advisory, the DOTr said the annual general maintenance shutdown will be conducted during the Holy Week — from April 15 (Holy Monday) to April 21 (Easter Sunday).

Revenue operations will then resume on April 22, Monday.

"Maintenance works that will be done during the one-week suspension of revenue operations include rail grinding, rail cascading, replacement of turnouts, structural testing, and other general maintenance activities on our trains, electrical systems, and other MRT3 subsystems," said the DOTr.

"We ask for understanding and patience of our commuters as we take the necessary maintenance measures towards making MRT3 more reliable and efficient, parallel with our comprehensive rehabilitation and overhaul of the entire system," it added. 

This year's temporary shutdown will take longer than the five-day maintenance in 2018, due to the current condition of the rail system.

"Due to the current degraded condition of the MRT3, the 2019 Holy Week shutdown programmed maintenance activities that require longer suspension of operations," Transportation spokesperson Goddes Libiran said in a separate message to reporters. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/RSJ, GMA News