Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 2) – Services at the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) were disrupted Wednesday morning as commuters returned from the holiday break.
In a tweet, the Department of Transportation said MRT-3 operations were suspended at 5:12 a.m. because of signalling issues on Shaw Boulevard station.
“All trains were stopped at the nearest station as a precautionary measure as technicians troubleshoot the issue,” it added.
LOOK: Long lines of affected passengers at the Ayala Station as MRT-3 temporarily halts operations.
The social media pages of DOTr MRT-3 haven't posted any update yet.
📸 Chris Hernandez/CNN Philippines pic.twitter.com/m4f33AdQtG
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) November 1, 2022
The signaling system controls railway traffic to prevent collision.
At 6:52 a.m., the MRT-3 Control Center said the signaling system was back to normal, and full operations resumed at 6:58 a.m., the train management said.
The signaling glitch caused long lines of passengers at MRT-3 stations.
In a virtual briefing, Oscar Bongon, MRT-3 office-in-charge director for operations, said total affected passengers reached 3,600.
He said two trains were added in the morning to meet demand.
In an interview with CNN Philippines’ Balitaan, Bongon apologized to the passengers, and assured commuters that similar disruptions will not happen again.
Meanwhile, a PNR train got derailed near Magsaysay Crossing in Sta. Mesa, Manila.
Joseline Geronimo, operations manager of PNR, reasoned out heavy rains in the past few days that caused the incident. This delayed trip of around 120 passengers.
“We’re hoping na umayos na ang panahon,” she said. “Kapag nagkaroon ng heavy rains, maraming flood-prone areas ang PNR, lalo na ‘yang Sta. Mesa.”
[Translation: We’re hoping that the weather will improve. When there are heavy rains, PNR has many flood-prone areas, especially Sta. Mesa.]
Speaking to CNN Philippines, Bong Nebrija, MMDA Task Force Special Operations chief, said the agency expected around 420,000 vehicles on EDSA on Wednesday as people return to work from the long holiday break.
