President Rodrigo Duterte and Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Art Tugade during the inauguration of the Metro Rail Transit Line-3 (MRT-3) Rehabilitation Project at the Shaw Boulevard Station, Mandaluyong City. Source: Facebook
Duterte, Tugade lead MRT-3 Rehab Project inauguration
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Roa Duterte, together with Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Art Tugade, led the inauguration of the Metro Rail Transit Line-3 (MRT-3) Rehabilitation Project March 22, 2022 at the Shaw Boulevard Station, Mandaluyong City.
Officials said the major rehabilitation project is significant, given the fact that in its colorful past, the MRT-3 was plagued with numerous breakdowns, unloading incidents, service line interruptions, a derailment incident in 2014, and long lines endured by our kababayans with hours of waiting time before boarding the train.
According to the government, its dire situation even trended online with the hashtag #MRTirik and even mocked in comparison to the movie “Train To Busan”. These were the problems faced by the Duterte Administration when it assumed office in 2016.
“Now, with the unwavering dedication and commitment to fulfill the mandate in giving Filipinos a more convenient and comfortable life, Tugade, the MRT-3 Management and Sumitomo Corporation, joined hands immediately to resolve the problems and prioritized the massive rehabilitation,” according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
The DOTr added that with the completion of the project, commuters are now experiencing faster, efficient, convenient, comfortable and much better MRT-3 service. The operating speed of the train has been raised to 60 kph from the original 25-30 kph. The interval between trains has also been reduced to 4 minutes, from 9 minutes.
Travel time from North Avenue up to Taft Avenue will now only take 45 minutes compared from 1 hour and 15 minutes estimated travel time before. And a total of 23 trains are now running at MRT-3 compared to even less than 10 trains before the rehabilitation.
Also included in the completed rehabilitation project are the upgraded signaling, communications and CCTV systems, repair of all station escalators and elevators, and the successful installation of air-conditioning units inside the trains.
“Indeed, in over 5 years, the DOTr and its attached Railways agencies and partners, have been relentlessly working to achieve connectivity and mobility in the country. We are still working, we will continue working non-stop to BUILD, BUILD, BUILD to a brighter transport future for the Philippines,” the DOTr added.
