Acting transportation secretary Giovanni Lopez has ordered the fast-tracking of safety and requirements checks and utilization procedures of the three sets of three-car Dalian trains scheduled to operate in December this year.
Lopez said this on Tuesday as he inspected the trains-including the Dalian trains-at the Metro Rail Transit Line (MRT) Line 3 Depot after making a commute from Valley Golf in Cainta, Rizal, toward the office of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in Quezon City.
According to Lopez, the Dalian trains would be a huge help for commuters, as ‘it will reduce long lines’ at the MRT-3 and Light Rail Transit stations.
But he likewise said that the safety of commuters must not be compromised.
With this, the acting DOTr chief told the technical team of the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), which manages the Dalian trains, to ensure that safety and requirements checks and utilization procedures are followed.
‘Bagaman kailangang bilisan na rin ang pagde-deploy ng Dalian Trains, hindi natin iko-kompromiso ang kaligtasan ng mga pasahero kaya dadaan muna ito sa masusing safety checks para matiyak natin na ligtas ang biyahe ng mga kababayan natin,’ Lopez said.
(Although the deployment of Dalian Trains needs to be expedited, we will not compromise on the safety of passengers, so it will first go through thorough safety checks to ensure that our countrymen travel safely.)
Among the officials who accompanied Lopez during the inspection were MRT-3 General Manager Mike Capati, Sumitomo Corp. Philippines Manager Hidenori Sunohara, CRRC Senior Regional Manager Damien Chang, and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Executive Director Loumer Bernabe.
In July this year, the first set of Dalian trains was put into service on the tracks of the MRT-3, after almost 10 years of being stored in the train depot.
‘Elevator at MRT-3 Ortigas’
Meanwhile, after commuting through the northbound Ortigas station at the MRT-3, Lopez likewise ordered the management of the MRT-3 to study the installation of an elevator at the station.
Lopez said the elevator would help commuters, especially persons with disabilities and senior citizens, who have difficulty getting up and down to the station platform.