DoTC to shell out P6B for LRT, MRT lines improvement

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) expects to spend P6 billion for the improvement of Metro Manila’s train lines this year as part of the administration’s “stimulus” package.

Transportation Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said commuters could expect better services at the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) train lines before the end of this year.

“We estimate to get about P6 billion from the stimulus fund for the LRT and MRT,” Roxas told reporters.

Speaking at the sidelines of the 37th Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Manila, he said the money would be spent for the rehabilitation of trains and improvement of signaling systems to minimize the number of service disruptions at the train lines.

“There are a lot of trains that we can recondition and operationalize. We can increase our capacity so our current trains are not overworked,” he said.

The government operates the LRT line 1 (Baclaran to Roosevelt) and line 2 (Recto to Santolan) train lines through the LRT Authority. The MRT line on Edsa is run by a private consortium controlled by the group of executive Manuel V. Pangilinan.

Roxas said the department was also reviewing a previous proposal to use idle LRT trains to augment the MRT’s current capacity.

The MRT has a designed capacity of 350,000 passengers a day, but it regularly operates with nearly half a million people daily. He noted that if LRT trains were reconfigured for use at the MRT line, these cars can no longer be transferred back.

He said the DoTC would also increase its spending for the preventive, instead of reactive, maintenance of trains and improvement of station facilities. Roxas said this would minimize the number of service disruptions that hit the LRT and MRT train lines almost on a daily basis.

“Our train facilities are so overworked. That’s the reason behind the frequent disruptions,” Roxas said.