Busan Universal Rail Inc., the maintenance operator of Metro Rail Transit Line 3, plans to increase the number of operational trains by end of the year to shorten passenger queues, an executive said Tuesday.
Busan Universal Rail legal counsel and spokesman Charles Perfecto Mercado told reporters the government wanted to deploy 20 running trains or 60 cars by end of the year from the existing 16 to 18 trains.
“On our part, we have to make available 22 trains so that we can have reserves,” Mercado said.
Mercado said Busan successfully restored 22 cars when it took over the maintenance contract in January, increasing availability level by 55 percent in eight months.
Busan also completed the rail grinding target from North Avenue to Taft Avenue and quadrupled the pebble tamping rate of the previous maintainer to smoothen train runs. This meant increased travel comfort for the riders.
He said commuters could expect even “better service” with the restoration of trains and rails.
The Transportation Department awarded the P3.8-billion contract to the joint venture of Busan Transportation Corp., Edison Development & Construction, Tramat Mercantile Inc., TMICorp Inc and Castan Corp. to undertake maintenance works of rolling stock and signaling system of MRT 3.
The contract also covers the general overhaul of 43 coaches over the course of the agreement period and the total replacement of the signaling system within 24 months.
Busan has been operating and maintaining Busan Metro, the four railway lines of the mass transit system in Busan, South Korea since 1999.
MRT 3, which runs from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City, serves more than 500,000 passengers a day, beyond its rated capacity of 350,000.
The rail system has a fleet of 73 Czech-made air-conditioned rail cars.