More MRT trains back on track as coronavirus-hit workers recover

At least 17 Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) trains are put back to service as more and more infected staffers recover from COVID-19.

During the Laging Handa briefing Friday, Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan announced that the MRT3 is slowly returning to its normal run, two weeks after the Department of Transportation limited its operations due to rising number of personnel catching COVID-19.

“Nagbaba sa 12 trains nung week after Holy Week. So sa kasalukuyan 17 to 18 ang tumatakbong trains” (We have limited our operations to 12 trains after the Holy Week, but now we have 17 to 18 trains running), he said.

He said the DOTr conducted mass testing among the railway sector’s personnel to ensure that train facilities will not become a COVID-19 transmission places.

On April 4, the DOTr announced the limited operations of major railways in Metro Manila.

During the limited MRT3 system operation, only 10 to 12 trains were dispatched with a limited capacity of 372 passengers per train set or 124 passengers per car, in compliance with the pre-determined number of passengers per station. —LBG, GMA News