Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) apologized on Wednesday (September 2) for the inconvenience caused by the malfunctioning of automatic gates at the LRT-2 Santolan Station on Tuesday morning (September 1).
“We are also seeking yung kanilang understanding kasi yung nangyayaring ganito, part pa rin ito ng process ng transition period,” LRTA spokesperson Hernando Cabrera said.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, AF Payments Inc. (AFPI), provider of the automated fare collection system (AFCS), explained that the gates lost power at 9:36 a.m. after the emergency push button (EPB) was accidentally triggered.
The EPB, which cuts off power to the electrical circuit, caused the gates for both magnetic and contactless tickets to go out of service. The EPB was reset to its normal setting and power returned to the gates by 10:57 a.m.
New system
AFPI said that the EPB would be replaced by a new system that wouldn’t cut off power to the gates. Instead it would make the arms of the turnstile drop once the old magnetic system had been fully decommissioned.
The incident delayed passengers as they were unable to pass through the gates.
Cabrera added more technicians would be deployed to address similar emergencies faster.
“Yun ang key doon kasi kahit may contingency measure ka kung wala naman yung mga tao na mag-i-implement ng contingency measure, useless din,” he explained.
Activation of “tap and go” system at LRT-1 northbound
Meanwhile, the LRTA spokesperson told CNN Philippines that the new “tap and go” system might be partially activated at the northbound lane — from Baclaran to Gil Puyat stations — of LRT-1 by Friday (September 4).
Related: Tap and go’ system now covers LRT-1 southbound stations
Last month, the new ticketing system was launched at the southbound lane of LRT-1.
CNN Philippines’ Rex Remitio contributed to this report.
