SENATOR Nancy Binay filed Senate Resolution 304 urging the Senate to look into the alleged dysfunctional and defective new coaches of the Metro Rail Transit-3 system.
“An inquiry [into] this matter is necessary to improve the MRT’s provision of safe and efficient public transport to thousands of Filipinos every day,” Binay said.
According to news reports, the new MRT coaches were not working and 12 of them had cracks.
If these reports are true, Binay said “this is a new burden to our commuters because it would further delay the introduction of the trains’ service.”
She cited the need to ensure the safety of passengers and efficiency of the MRT operation because many people were riding them every day.
The new coaches were part of the 48 bought from the Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp. for P3.8 billion in 2013 by the then Department of Transportation and Communication.
The delivery of the new coaches started in January 2016, three months after the original October 2015 schedule.
She also assailed the delayed delivery of the defective MRT coaches, which were supposed to replace the old coaches that were prone to breakdowns,” Binay said.
Binay also decried the reported delays in the existing MRT service due to breakdowns in the present system.
“She also recalled that last October 2016, there was no MRT service to the public for two hours due to communication and power supply problem [and then] last December, there was a technical problem,” Binay added.
She said breakdowns in the MRT service had an impact on the country’s economy.
Hundreds of MRT 3 passengers were unloaded at the Cubao Station Wednesday morning due to technical problems.
In a post on its Twitter account, the MRT Line 3 management said a technical problem occurred, forcing them to order unloading of passengers at about 9 a.m.
