MRT staff blamed for mishap, face administrative raps

Train drivers and control center personnel involved in the Metro Rail Transit mishap that hurt at least 36 persons last week, will be charged administratively, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya has said.

 

The results of the Department of Transportation and Communication's investigation indicated human error as the cause of the accident, a report on "24 Oras" said on Tuesday.

 

Facing administrative raps are drivers Haigen Villacarlos and James Duque, control center personnel Joey Diokno and at lease one other employee.

 

Abaya said the personnel failed to follow protocol when a southbound MRT train stalled past the Magallanes station on Wednesday afternoon last week.

 

The stalled MRT train overshot the Taft Avenue after it was disconnected from the operational train that was pushing it from where it lost power near the Magallanes station. 

 

The stalled train was derailed and rammed through the steel barricade of the southernmost station.

 

Coupling mechanisms

 

Villacarlos, the driver of the operational train, reportedly made a mistake while he connected the two trains with their coupling mechanisms.

 

Duque, on the other hand, reportedly failed to help Villacarlos in connecting the two trains.

 

"What [Villacarlos] did extra, which was not part of the procedure was to crank after naibangga at nag-engage. Once you have engaged [the two trains], do not touch the coupling the mechanism 'cause cranking could actually decouple the... mechanism," Abaya said.

 

The control center personnel erred when they failed to pinpoint the location of the stalled train.

 

“There is a policy that trains with failure must be brought to the nearest train platform for passenger evacuation. Clearly the nearest station then was Magallanes," Abaya said.

 

"In hindsight, what should have been done is to pull the train back to the Magallanes station,” he added.

 

Instead of being pulled back by rescue train to the Magallanes station, the stalled train was pushed to the Taft Avenue station.  

 

Hauling too fast

 

Abaya said the two coupled trains reached a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, much faster than the hauling speed limit of just 15 kilometers per hour.

 

The secretary said the speed record came from the black box of the rescue train.  He said the stalled train had no power and its black box also couldn't record such data. 

 

Abaya said new procedures will be in place to prevent a similar incident in the future.

 

He said passengers of stalled trains would now be evacuated before the hauling procedures begin.

 

Many of those hurt were passengers who remained in the coaches despite the attempts to get off the stalled train.

 

Also, Abaya said the speed of the MRT-3 will now be pegged at 40 kilometers per hour, to avoid any further accidents. 

 

“The speed will now be 40 kilometers per hour, pantay na sa LRT-1. All the stress in the system, and the condition of rails, these contribute in part to the glitches that we experience everyday,” Abaya said.

 

During the press conference, Abaya described the proper procedures that drivers should have taken when dealing with the stalled train—procedures that were not followed.

 

Abaya said that the DOTC would conduct a more rigid training session for drivers. The DOTC will also have “audit” teams that will conduct spot checks on drivers, to ensure that they have proper mastery of emergency procedures. —Patricia Denise Chiu/NB, GMA News