FINALLY, passengers of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 will be able to ride the train system with a pinch of ease—at least, after another six months—as the contract to rehabilitate the first batch of the railway line’s escalators has been awarded.
In a statement, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said the P22.11-million project, which covers all 12 Schindler-brand escalators, was awarded to Jardine Schindler Elevator Corp.
The company holds proprietary rights to rehabilitate this first batch of escalators, being the brand’s exclusive distributor. It will undertake such works within six months from issuance of the notice to proceed.
The project aims to provide some relief to commuters—especially senior citizens, persons with disabilities and pregnant women—by improving the MRT’s escalators.
The only other batch of escalators to be rehabilitated consists of 34 facilities, all of which are under the Mitsubishi brand. This project is currently being procured, as well as a separate project for the total replacement of the MRT’s elevators, which became obsolete in 2013.
“The reactivation of the MRT 3’s conveyance facilities will help improve the overall passenger convenience, and it is but a part of the pipeline of rehabilitation projects that we are implementing. We are pleased to get this started, along with the addition of 48 train cars, the rail replacements, a new tap-and-go ticketing system, and the refurbished toilets,” Transportation Spokesman Michael Arthur C. Sagcal said in a text message.
Earlier, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya announced that the delivery of the 48 new train cars of Metro Manila’s main train line will be delayed by about three months. The deferment was caused by the prototype’s need to undergo dynamic and static testing and debugging to ensure the new coaches will function at their optimal level.
Commuters from the north and south of Manila patronize the MRT, as it is a cheaper and faster option to riding buses and taxis. But some are now adamant to ride the once-mighty train system because of safety purposes.
The train system saw itself bogging down multiple times this year already, once even forcing passengers to walk beside the rails along the station in Guadalupe.
There are also fewer trains running due to the lack of spare parts and a reputable maintenance provider.
But once the 48 new trains come in, MRT 3’s trips per hour will increase from 20 to 24, which will translate to a 60-percent rise in the number of passengers per hour, per direction.
This means that there will be 37,824 passengers who can avail themselves of the rail service every hour heading toward one direction. Currently, only about 23,640 people ride an MRT service per way every hour. But that number still depends on how many trains are running that day.
Today the rail line’s average daily ridership is already over 560,000, and its highest single-day passenger count is 620,000.
The project is aimed at easing the gridlock on Edsa, and “make the MRT 3 experience much more bearable for its riders.”
The government also plans to modify the structure of its trains from three coaches to four in the third quarter this year. But this also seems to be affected by the delay.
A change in platforms at the stations is not necessary, as they are already designed to carry an additional train coach for each set. It will effectively cut the waiting gap per train to three minutes from five.
Aside from adding new coaches to the current MRT fleet, the government is also rolling out P9.7 billion worth of projects to improve the train line.
The state also wants to buy out the corporate owner of the line.
But several private groups are proposing a different scheme to modernize the train system, which has been under fire for years now for its mediocre services.
The group of businessman Robert John L. Sobrepeña is proposing to do a “quick-fix” solution to make the train system safe for public transport.
Together with foreign firms Sumitomo Corp. of Japan and Globalvia Infrastructuras of Spain, Metro Global Holdings Inc. is proposing to “fix” the ailing system through a $150-million investment that involves the procurement of a total of 96 new train cars, and the rehabilitation of the existing 73 coaches, increasing its capacity by fourfold to 1.2 million daily passengers.
Under the proposal, a single point of responsibility will be implemented: meaning the rehabilitation and the maintenance of the line will be handled by a single company.
Separately, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is proposing to shoulder the upgrade costs of the train system and release the government from the bondage of paying billions of pesos in equity rental payments.
The group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, which earlier entered into a partnership agreement with the corporate owner of the MRT, intends to spend $524 million to overhaul the line.
The venture would effectively expand the capacity of the railway system by adding more coaches to each train, allowing it to carry more cars at faster intervals. The multimillion-dollar expansion plan would double the capacity of the line to 700,000 passengers a day, from the current 350,000 passengers daily.
It was submitted in 2011, but the transportation agency’s chief back then rejected the proposal.
On the other hand, German firms Schunk Bahn -und Industrietechnik GmbH and HEAG Mobilo GmbH are seeking to place whole train system under a massive transformation program to augment its capacity, and to provide a safe and comfortable travel to commuters from the northern and southern corridors of Metro Manila.
The P4.64-billion proposal, submitted in February with Filipino partner Comm Builders and Technology Phils. Corp., calls for the complete overhaul of the 73 light-rail vehicles of the MRT, the replacement of the rails, the upgrading of the line’s ancillary system, the upgrade of the track circuit and signaling systems, the modernization of the conveyance system, and a three-year maintenance contract.
(With Regina Coeli T. Aquino)