MRT to shorten operations on Feb. 28 and March 1

Operating hours of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 will be shortened on Feb. 28 and March 1 as its management starts replacing the worn-out railroad tracks of the glitch-plagued mass transport system. 

 

According to MRT general Manager Ramon Buenafe, the MRT’s operation on Saturday will end at 9 p.m., and will resume on 12 noon Sunday. 

 

The MRT's regular schedule is from 4:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

 

Buenafe said 150 meters of railroad tracks in between Magallanes Station and Taft Avenue station will be replaced while the railway line is out of service.

 

“This is the first rail replacement project of the MRT-3. It’s not been done before. Rail repairs had been done before but not to this extent,” he told lawmakers Wednesday at the House transportation committee’s hearing on MRT rehabilitation projects.

 

Since this will be the first time the MRT is replacing its tracks, Buenafe said he will have to conduct time and motion studies, and consult with his team for the schedule of succeeding rail replacement works.

 

“Hopefully by next week I can go back to my team and assess how long it will take for us to replace rails of this magnitude. So if you’ll ask me how long this replacement works will take, I cannot answer that right now,” he said.

Tracks’ condition: ‘not good’

 

Buenafe, who assumed his post last month, said he would like to have the entire 121.8-kilometer stretch of railway tracks replaced if it were up to him.

 

“I’ve seen the condition of the tracks, and it’s not good,” he said.

 

The MRT management is already in the process of procuring some 7,000 linear meters of rail. They will be used to replace the critical six-kilometer stretch of tracks in dire condition.

 

Assessment by the Hong Kong-based railway operator MTR showed the track condition is “most alarming” and in need of immediate attention among the seven systems of the MRT it had inspected.

 

The MTR warned that a broken rail is a serious threat to the safe operation of the railway that “can potentially cause train derailment resulting in substantial casualties in a high usage system like the MRT-3.” —KG, GMA News