Commuters packed on MRT, LRT ‘like corned beef’ as service worsens – solons

Published May 24, 2015 2:49pm

Commuters on the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 and the Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT 1) have gone from being packed into trains like sardines to being squeezed even tighter "like corned beef" because of the transit systems' continuing deterioration, two party-list lawmakers said.

Bayan Muna Reps. Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate said the Department of Transportation and Communications should be held to account for the billions in public funds that have been allotted to the agency for the MRT and LRT’s maintenance in light of the elevated railways' worsening state.

The lawmakers noted that over the past two days, two major glitches caused inconvenience to commuters: the reduction of the MRT’s working trains from eight to seven last Friday, which resulted in lengthy queues, and the collision of two LRT-1 trains at Monumento Saturday morning.

“Araw-araw parusa ang pagsakay sa MRT at LRT dahil sa init, haba ng pila, konting tren at iba pa. Sa totoo lang hindi na sardinas ang itsura ng mga tao sa loob ng MRT at LRT, mukha na silang corned beef dahil sa sikip. Tapos idagdag pa dito na dumadalas na din ang mga aksidente sa tren ay talagang nakakaawa ang mga pasahero. Masakit pa dito ay nagtaas pa ng singil ang MRT/LRT pero bulok pa din ang serbisyo,” Colmenares said.

At least one person was hurt when an oncoming LRT train hit another train at Monumento station because of the power fluctuation in the area, which affected the LRT’s communication systems.

In an interview aired over state-owned dzRB radio Sunday, Communications Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. apologized for the collision and assured the public that the government is doing its best to improve MRT and LRT services.

“Humihingi kami ng paumanhin sa ating mga mamamayan habang patuloy na isinasakatuparan ng pamahalaan ang pagpapahusay sa serbisyo ng LRT at MRT,” he said.

Scrutiny of contracts

Colmenares, however, said the DOTC appears to be “playing with people’s lives” because the agency has yet to improve its maintenance of the MRT and LRT even after the derailment of one of its trains at the Taft Avenue station in Pasay City last year, which left 38 people injured.

He called for a scrutiny of all the contracts involving the MRT and LRT so that the public will know how the DOTC is spending the budget allocated for train maintenance.

“[W]e need to see and examine all the contracts involving the MRT and LRT because it seems that we are being duped and short-changed. Palaging ang commuters ang lugi kasi palpak ang serbisyo samantalang bilyon-bilyon ang ibinabayad sa mga kontrata ng MRT/LRT na galing sa kaban ng bayan,” he said.

According to Zarate, some P3.5 billion has been allotted to the repair and rehabilitation of the MRT 3, as well as LRT lines 1 and 2, in the P2.6-trillion national budget for 2015. — Xianne Arcangel/BM, GMA News@gmanews.tv>

Tags: metrorailtransit, lightrailtransit, mrt3, metrorailtransitline3, mrtlrt