Rail repairs cause delay in MRT-3 operations

MRT3 Shaw Boulevard Station (Photo courtesy of UrbanRail)

MANILA — Rail repairs caused a delay in the operations of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) early Thursday morning.

Radio reports showed that the MRT-3’s first trip was delayed by an hour, leaving the North Ave. station in Quezon City at 5:30 a.m. instead of its usual departure schedule of 4:30 a.m.

MRT-3 general manager Roman Buenafe said that it was the clearing operations done Wednesday night between Guadalupe and Buendia stations in Makati City which might have caused the delay.

Reports also showed that the trains needed to slow down to 15 kilometers per hour (kph) between the Guadalupe and Buendia stations because of the unfinished repair work. As a result, the usual 45- to 55-minute trip from North Ave. to Taft Ave. in Pasay City turned into an hour-long.

To recall, replacement works were done for the MRT-3 rails last weekend. It also allowed the management to conduct a time-and-motion study during the actual works.

Because of these replacement works, MRT-3 operations closed as early as 9 p.m. last Feb 28 (Saturday) and opened at 12 noon on March 1 (Sunday).

No timetable has been released yet as to how long replacement works will be done, but management is set to calculate how many more early-close, late-open weekends will be implemented in the coming months.

Management, meanwhile, sought for patience and understanding while these rehabilitation works are ongoing.