Metro rail transit’s upgrade plan ‘ignored’

MRT 3, North Avenue Station (Photo: Wikipedia)

MANILA – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) ignored the advice on the shortage of critical parts of MRT, according to the chief executive of Comm Builders & Tech Philippines (CBT).

The parts shortage were specifically identified on the MRT’s signaling and radio communication system.

“We had presented an upgrade plan that will migrate from the MAN 900 to the EBI Screen 900,” Roehl Bacar, president and chief executive officer of CBT said in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.

CBT is the train’s interim maintenance contractor from October  2012 to August 2013.

“The MAN 900 has obsolete parts already; Bombardier has in fact stopped manufacturing it in 2009.”

The statement was made following the postponed operations of the MRT after the radio communication system bogged down, which caused massive inconvenience to passengers.

Bocar added that MRT does not need a system audit from a foreign rail company.

“The problems won’t be solved by yet another audit or study, even if it’s conducted by the Hong Kong MTR or whichever group they can think of,” he said.

He said that what the train needs is faster vital systems procurement from the DOTC and MRTC through decisive actions.