Gov’t puts Dalian trains to use after over a decade

Metro Manila, Philippines - After over a decade, the first set of “Dalian” trains from China finally made it on the Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) tracks on Wednesday, July 16, to serve more commuters.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made the announcement during his visit at the MRT-3 Santolan-Annapolis station in Quezon City.

Out of the 48 trains bought by the government in 2014 during the Aquino administration, at least one train set with three cars was made available to commuters. The train sets were idle for over a decade due to incompatibility with the MRT-3 tracks.

The Transportation Department said the three additional train cars may serve up to 1,200 commuters.

Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon assured the public that the trains cleared a number of safety checks.

In June, the agency ordered Sumitomo Corporation, the Japanese maintenance operator of the train system, to speed up the testing of 48 unused vehicles.

“Kapag natapos na safety checks sa iba pang Dalian trains, pwede natin ‘yang idagdag sa mga tren ngayon, o ipalit sa ibang train set na kailangang ayusin,” Dizon said.

[Translation: Once the safety checks on the other Dalian trains are complete, we can add them to the current stock or use them as replacements for train sets that need repair.]