GUESS who boarded the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) on Friday (January 8) morning, coming out pleasantly surprised by two things: the strict health protocols against Covid-19; and the smooth, quick run of the train, thanks to the rail replacement and rehabilitation done by a Japanese partnership.
Tokyo’s newly installed Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko took a ride together with Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade. Their MRT-3 visit was executed while taking necessary precautionary measures against Covid-19, according to an account shared with the media by the Japanese embassy.
During their ride, Koshikawa expressed enthusiasm over the MRT-3’s improved train speed resulting from rail replacement works, which were part of the line’s massive rehabilitation program implemented by Sumitomo Corporation-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) from Japan.
The ambassador (@AmbJPNinPH) tweeted:
“All aboard the newly-rehabilitated MRT-3 with @DOTrPH Sec. Tugade. Kudos to the MRT-3 workers for their great efforts! Hope this strong 🇯🇵&🇵🇭 partnership will result in safe and punctual transport services and make you set the alarm clock 30 min. later every morning!”
Meanwhile, Koshikawa also affirmed Japan’s commitment to bring development to the people of the Philippines by providing quality infrastructure assistance. He expressed hopes to see more partnerships like this in the future, noting that Japan and the Philippines celebrate 65 years of friendship in 2021.
On November 7, 2018, Tokyo and Manila signed and exchanged notes concerning the yen loan with provision of up to ¥38 billion for the MRT-3 Rehabilitation Project upon the strong request of the Philippine government.
MRT-3, an elevated railway along busy Edsa, has suffered from deteriorating track and trains caused by poor maintenance, resulting in the decline of its transport capacity and increased frequency of operation troubles. The MRT-3 Rehabilitation Project addresses that by improving the line’s safety, comfort and speed using Japanese expertise and technology.
The MRT-3 Rehabilitation Project started on April 30, 2019, with a partnership between Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, its technical partner, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and MHI’s fully owned Philippine subsidiary, TES Philippines (TESP). Apart from being the original designer, builder and maintenance provider of the MRT-3 for 12 years, Sumitomo-MHI-TESP has an extensive track record in railway engineering, construction and maintenance, and is therefore the best fit for the challenging task of restoring MRT-3 to its design condition.
The MRT-3 completed its rail replacement works in September 2020, several months ahead of the scheduled completion in February 2021.
On December 7, 2020, MRT-3 boosted its operating speed to 60 kph, cutting the average time between trains to only 3.5 to 4 minutes (20 trains at 60 kph) from the previous 8 to 9.5 minutes (20 trains at 30 kph). With this, travel time from North Avenue station to Taft Avenue will be shortened to only 50 minutes from the previous 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Image credits: https://twitter.com/AmbJPNinPH