The Philippines Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has announced that the first of 48 light rail vehicles (LRV) for the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) will be operational by the end of Q1 this year.
According to DOTC, passengers will soon have shorter waiting times at stations as the second of 48 LRVs has been assembled and set to be tested this month.
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When the necessary engine and electrical component checks are completed within the week, the vehicle will undergo dynamic testing to ensure the reliability of parts.
As part of the testing, a 5,000km test run will be carried out on the main line during non-revenue hours.
DOTC secretary Jun Abaya said: "Commuters will experience increased passenger convenience and service reliability with the arrival of more new LRVs.
"If the evaluation of the first set is found to be satisfactory, we are expecting one new train to be operational by the end of this quarter."
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By GlobalDataThe first of new LRVs was assembled last August and two more are to be delivered by next month.
From March, four new LRVs will be shipped to the country every month until next January.
Abaya further noted: "With mobility a priority to the DOTC, we are hoping to provide more available trains to the riding public through the 48 additional LRVs, an improvement that should have been done by the system’s private owner, Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC), in the mid-2000s, in addition to system upgrades and better maintenance works."
The new LRVs are part of the DOTC-MRT3 capacity expansion project, which will substantially ease the system’s congestion by accomodating more than 800,000 passengers a day.
Image: First Metro Rail Transit Line 3 train will be operational by Q1 end this year. Photo: courtesy of the Philippines Department of Transportation and Communications.
