(Eagle News) – Malacanang has expressed its concern over the safety of MRT-3 coaches, as it vowed to upgrade and rehabilitate the MRT-3 system that had drawn flak for various operational defects, the most recent of which is the decoupling incident in Makati last week.
But a statement from the Palace said shutting down the MRT operations is an option that needs to be further studied, as this would be more disadvantageous to the riding public, specifically the half a million commuters who use the MRT-3 daily.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the Department of Transportation maintenance team is “working overtime to ensure the safety of the entire system.”
“Suggestions to shut down the operations of the MRT-3, however, need further consideration,” Roque said in a statement.
“While we acknowledge that the MRT-3 problem cannot be solved overnight, we must also consider the 500,000 commuters that rely on the MRT-3 system daily. Stopping the MRT-3 operations may disrupt the economic activities of these people,” he explained in a statement.
Roque said that the government is doing all it can, given the current limitations of the system the maintenance of which was previously handled by Busan Universal Rail Inc., (BURI).
The government has already terminated BURI as a service provider of MRT-3 following its failure to comply with the contractual requirements of a complete and updated Computerized Management System.
“We are doing all we can and we will not rest until the riding public will get the service they truly deserve,” Roque said.
(Eagle News Service)
