PageOne.ph | December 1, 2016

The MRT Line 3 has increased to more than 500,000 commuters daily amid increasing travel time for its trains, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Wednesday.

DOTr Assistant Secretary for Railways Cesar Chavez said the MRT management plans to increase the number of trips in preparation for the influx of passengers for the holiday season.

"Our average headway is 4 minutes at 20 train sets. Our operations plan is to sustain 22 train sets during peak hours," Chavez said in a text message.

The MRT-3 has registered 507,515 passengers Tuesday, November 29, with 22 operational train sets which was the best performance of the railway system since 2012.

This was the second highest ridership for this year next to the 509,492 riders recorded on November 18.

Before the Duterte administration assumed office on June 30, 2016, the highest ridership was recorded at 434,524 on June 17.

In 2015, the highest ridership was recorded on February 25 at 455,164.

Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI), the maintenance provider of MRT-3, seeks to replace the line's signal system and improve its rail tracks to ensure further safety and efficiency in its operations.

To date, the maintenance provider has put 65 cars in good running condition, or 20 trains plus one train set and two spare cars.

BURI has restored two to three cars every month since its contract started in January, to be able to field up to 20 trains at revenue line during peak periods. Peak runs are backed up by two reserved cars at the depot.

The firm said that rail repair and maintenance were crucial components of operations, noting that poor maintenance in the past had also resulted in damage to train cars.

The repairs will allow more trains to run at faster speeds ensuring higher ridership and operating efficiency especially for the upcoming holiday season.

Under its service and maintenance contract, BURI is to undertake system maintenance, general overhaul of 43 coaches, total replacement of signaling system, as well as all special repair works.

At the start of the project, the company purchased start-up spare parts so that it could restore the defective cars left behind by previous maintenance providers. All spares were inspected and approved by the transportation department.

It has also carried out rail grinding of the entire mainline (68 kilometers) as part of its contract. It has also replaced 1,462 linear meters out of 7,200 linear meters of rail that need replacement.

Rail preparation and replacement exercises are now ongoing to complete the required repairs on the entire rail line.