MANILA – Commuters can expect one new running train on the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) route along Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) by the end of the first quarter of 2016, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) assured on Monday.
DOTC made the statement after tests on the second MRT-3 light rail vehicle (LRV) or coach shipped from Dalian, China last December began on Sunday (Jan. 17).
The 48 new coaches are part of the DOTC’s MRT-3 capacity expansion project, which is meant to decongest the metropolis’ busiest railway system.
Two more coaches will be delivered by February, followed by four units per month by March. The delivery is scheduled to be completed with the 48th unit in January 2017.
The initial test on Sunday was done from the MRT-3 station at Taft Avenue in Pasay City to the North Avenue depot in Quezon City, or a 5,000-kilometer run.
More tests will be done during non-revenue hours.
The coach will be subjected to dynamic testing to ensure the reliability of parts as soon as the necessary checks on the different electrical components are completed within the week.
“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,” DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said.
“Commuters will experience increased passenger convenience and service reliability with the arrival of more new LRVs (light rail vehicles),” he added.