LRT-2 back to normal ops hours after Santolan Station fire

FILE: LRT Line 2 (Photo: cb_agulto/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

MANILA – The Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) is now back to normal operations several hours after a fire hit its Santolan Station resulting in suspended train operations.

In a phone interview Thursday, Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) spokesperson Hernando Cabrera said train operations from Recto Station to Araneta Center Cubao Station and vice versa was back to normal at around 2:21 p.m. after their personnel repaired the connection between the LRT-2’s control center and its revenue line — the part of the train line accessible to passengers.

He said the fire that occurred at around 5:10 a.m. in Santolan Station affected several “electrical apparatus” including the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) of the signaling system that connects the LRT-2’s control center and revenue line.

“‘Yung link between the control center and ‘yung revenue line, naputol. Kasi nawalan na ng power ‘yung signaling system na ‘yun (The link between the control center and revenue line was cut. Because the signaling system lost power),” Cabrera said.

While it was possible to resume operations immediately after the fire as both the LRT-2’s control center and revenue line were both still operational, he said their safety protocol barred train operation without the supervision from the control center.

“Even if we can run the train, even if we can operate the whole system, if we do this without the control center, we have to stop,” Cabrera said.

While train operations were suspended, he said LRT-2 personnel immediately addressed the problem by laying down cables to power the affected signaling system and restore the connection between the control center and its trains.

Currently, he said the investigation into the incident is still ongoing and they have yet to determine the extent of the damage caused by the fire.

In October 2019, a fire damaged the LRT-2’s power rectifiers and some rail tracks, resulting in the ongoing non-operation of the rail system’s Santolan, Anonas, and Katipunan stations.

LRT-2 was supposed to resume full operations in June but was delayed due to the lockdowns brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.