Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 15) — The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) will make available more train coaches to commuters starting tonight, transport officials said Tuesday.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced it added its first set of trains from Chinese company CRRC Dalian to the MRT-3 mainline. These will be available to commuters tonight during off-peak hours from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The set will have three train coaches that can accommodate up to 1,050 passengers per trip.
The Dalian trains will undergo a trial period until November when the maintenance provider begins rail replacement. DOTr added that three sets of Dalian trains, or nine train coaches, have already completed validation tests such as the 150-hour run.
The government obtained 48 Dalian trains from China four years ago but they failed to run due to compatibility issues with the MRT railway.
The DOTr has since signed an agreement with Japanese partner Sumitomo Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and MHI’s Philippine subsidiary TES Philippines (TESP) to replace the tracks and maintain its 72 coaches. Earlier, Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade said he was in talks with the Japanese partners on integrating the Dalian trains that the previous administration acquired to the MRT.
Sumitomo-MHI-TESP also gave the go signal for the deployment of the trains, DOTr said.
The Sumitomo-MHI-TESP agreement also covers the rehabilitation of power systems and upgrade of the signaling and communication lines of the train system. The deal is expected to raise the number of operating trains from 15 to 20, increase speed from 30 to 60 kilometers per hour, and trim headway or waiting time to 3.5 minutes, authorities said.
