DOTr sees full rehab of MRT-3 in 26 months

The Department of Transportation said it expects to restore the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 to its high-grade infrastructure condition in 26 months after the loan agreement signing for the MRT-3 Rehabilitation Project.

DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said the P18-billion loan agreement between the Philippine and Japanese governments would address the persisting problems of the MRT-3 and improve its systems to deliver a fast, reliable and safe transportation to commuters.

Batan said the MRT-3 sought to maintain its current average capacity of 350,000 commuters daily for the first seven to nine months of the rehabilitation. The capacity is expected to gradually increase beginning in the third quarter of next year.

He added the train operating speed and time between trains were expected to improve.

“Currently, we are running at 30 kilometers per hour, which we will increase to 60 kph. Our current headway  is at 7 to 10 minutes and it would be reduced to  3.5 minutes. And currently, 15 train sets  are operational during peak hours, we will increase it to 20,” Bayan said. 

The Philippine and Japanese governments, through the Department of Finance and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, formally signed Thursday a P18-billion loan agreement for the MRT-3 Rehabilitation Project.

The project will run until 2022, which covers the rehabilitation and maintenance of the system’s electromechanical components, power supply, rail tracks, depot equipment, and overhaul of its 72 18-year old Light Rail Vehicles.

The rehabilitation of the MRT-3 is the third of four railway projects under the Duterte Administration’s “Build Build Build” Program. 

The signing of the loan agreement for the North-South Commuter Railway Extension Project is due in the coming weeks. Loan agreements were signed for the Metro Manila Subway Project in March and the establishment of the Philippine Railway Institute in January.