MRT-3 to suspend operations on 4 weekends starting July

BY ALEXANDRIA SAN JUAN

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THE Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) said on Tuesday that it will be suspending its op­erations on four weekends from July to September to speed up rail replacement works which will boost the system’s running speed.

In a statement, the MRT-3 management said the railway will be closed on July 4 and 5; August 8 and 9; August 21 and 23; and September 12 and 13 to give way for the replacement of rails which is scheduled to be finished by September.

Upon completion, train op­erating speed will gradually increase from 40 kilometers per hour (kph) to 60kph by Decem­ber 2020, while the headway or the interval between trains will be reduced to 3.5 minutes, the management added.

According to the MRT-3, the rail replacement works to be done during the weekend sus­pension will include turnout works for both the southbound and northbound tracks at North Avenue and Taft Avenue sta­tions.

Turnouts, the MRT-3 ex­plained, are used to enable trains to switch from one track to another.

“The weekend suspension will also enable Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the service provider for MRT-3’s comprehensive rehabilitation, to perform rail destressing, re­railing, turnouts replacement, resurfacing, rail profile grind­ing, ballasting and tamping, and other major works for MRT-3’s trains, electrical systems, and other subsystems,” it added.

Last month, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) an­nounced that it is targeting to complete all rail replacement activities in MRT-3 by Septem­ber this year.

As many train passengers will be affected with this supension, the MRT-3 with the DoTr and the Land Transportation Franchis­ing and Regulatory Board as­sured the riding public that the bus augmentation program will be implemented.