By Jelly F. Musico
MANILA, Sept. 20 (PNA) – Senator Grace Poe said on Sunday the Senate Subcommittee on Transportation will resume public hearing on the Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) before the end of this month.
Poe said the Senate panel, which she chairs, will check if the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is meeting its targets to rehabilitate the main transport system along Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA).
Two weeks ago, Poe inspected the MRT prototype train cars from China and urged the DOTC to make sure that rehabilitation will go according to schedule.
Based on the timeline the DOTC presented to the Senate during a public hearing last February, the rail replacement and signaling system upgrade will be completed in September while the supply of traction motors will be done in October, this year.
The DOTC said the radio communications upgrade will be finished in November while the supply of Overhead Catenary System (OCS) Road-Rail Vehicle and supply of grinding machine rail vehicle will be completed in May next year.
Poe said the DOTC promised that total replacement of signaling system will be done in October next year while conveyance facilities completion is set in January 2016 and the general train overhaul will be finished in June 2017.
“The DOTC cannot bungle this. It should ensure that the new train cars will be delivered on time, that the elevators and escalators will work, and even the comfort rooms will be functional. Our workforce, majority of whom take mass transport, should not have to endure the current conditions longer than they should,” Poe said.
Many of the MRT’s trains and tracks have broken down due to wear-and-tear, with some 650,000 people taking the MRT daily, almost twice its capacity of 350,000.
According to the DOTC, some PhP 4.2 billion is required for the rail system’s three-year maintenance.
The government has already released PhP 1.2 billion for the rehabilitation: PhP 50 million for the procurement of 12 elevators for various MRT stations; PhP 90 million for one lot OCS Road-Rail Vehicle for maintenance activities; PhP 167 million for one lot Rail Grinder to repair the damaged MRT-3 tracks; and PhP 900 million for the total replacement and upgrade of the signaling system to meet capacity extension.
“That is PhP 1.2 billion in taxpayer’s money that the DOTC is spending. Commuters are well within their rights to demand that what needs to be fixed will be fixed, and the repairs and upgrades will be done on time,” Poe said.
She urged Filipinos to be vigilant and to continue reporting their experience and observations while riding the MRT, adding commuter feedback is essential in the government’s response to mass transport problems. (PNA)