Metro Manila’s trains will be on extended operations from December 16 to 23 in anticipation of the holiday rush, ABS-CBN News reported.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) clarified, however, that extending train operations until midnight as proposed by some groups would mean less time for maintenance.
That, in turn, would lead to safety issues and to the risk of train breakdowns during peak hours.
Speaking on Teleradyo Serbisyo, Transportation Undersecretary Jeremy Regino announced the following train schedules for December 16 to 23: LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT LINE 1–Last trip from Dr. Santos Avenue Station (Parañaque): 10:30 p.m., Last trip from Fernando Poe Jr. Station (Quezon City): 10:45 p.m.; LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT LINE 2–Last trip from Antipolo Station: 9:30 p.m., Last trip from Recto Station (Manila): 10 p.m. METRO RAIL TRANSIT 3– Last trip from North Avenue Station (Quezon City): 10:34 p.m. Last trip from Taft Avenue (Pasay): 11 p.m.
“Starting December 16 — For one week lang po natin inextend hanggang December 23, before Christmas. We extended it by an hour pero hindi ho aabot ng hanggang midnight,” Regino, quoted by ABS-CBN News, said.
“We have extended operations by an hour, but we cannot extend it until midnight.”
He said that having the last trip at midnight would leave train maintenance workers too little time to perform checks on the trains and lines, which require a shutdown of the entire electrified line, before operations begin at 4:30 a.m.
He said that train workers have to check the power cables for damage, the rails for debris and loose bolts, as well as the train coaches.
“ If we have a service interruption during peak hours, that would be a bigger problem,” the executive said.
