Darwin G. Amojelar | Manila Standard | December 14, 2016

Metro Rail Transit Line 3 said Wednesday it expects to accommodate 800,000 passengers a day by 2017, up 55 percent from this year's average.

Busan Universal Rail Inc., a Filipino-Korean joint venture that started maintaining MRT-3 in January 2016, said in a statement the restoration works already brought the total number of trains in operation to 22 as of end-November, exceeding Line 3 power system's maximum capacity of running a total of 20 trains at any given time.

It said average ridership at MRT3 also increased to 500,000 passengers daily in late November, a 25-percent increase in passengers since January. As a result, MRT-3's income also grew this year, said MRT 3 officer-in-charge Deo Leo Manalo.

As of end-October, MRT-3 already hit its full-year revenue target of P2.3 billion, matching the full-year figure of P2.3 billion in 2015.

"That was more than 20 percent up. It is because we have more trains running this year," Manalo said.

Busan Universal said when it took over MRT-3's maintenance early this year, there were only 13 trains left operating.

The company said 62 LRVs were now in good running condition, as it restored two to three LRVs every month since its contract started, to field up to the maximum 20 trains at revenue line during peak periods. Peak runs are now also backed up by two reserved cars at the depot.

"It is a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, moment-to-moment maintenance. Maintenance is a 24-hour round-the-clock activity," Busan Universal managing director Eugene Rapanut said.

"Now, we are running 20 trains during peak hours. We have two trains in reserve. And we have two trains under general overhaul," he said.

He said by the first quarter of 2017, the company expected to have 24 operational trains consisting of 72 LRVs.

MRT is paying its maintenance contractor P54 million a month, lower than the payment to previous maintenance contractor, Sumitomo which used to receive P110 million monthly.

Rapanut said Busan Universal exceeded the government's requirements through "proper allocation of resources, proper interaction and engagement with the people, and proper management―making everybody understand the objective."

"The goal of our client, which is DOTr, is very simple ― provide the most number of trains available, which is 20 at the peak period; and make the system safe, reliable, and maintainable. We are very clear on that," he said.

By 2017, 48 new LRVs made by China's Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. will be put into the system. As of this month, 38 LRVs already arrived, with 32 already fully assembled and ready to go. Presently being installed are onboard signaling systems, which is required to make the system safe.

Also in the pipeline is a new power supply and signaling system, to allow MRT to accommodate more than the present capacity of 20 trains.

"The power supply will be completed by fourth quarter next year. Once we have that power, we will run 24 trains in four-car configurations. If we are at full capacity now, we will increase it by 60 percent," Manalo said.

"But we need more components. End of next year is the target. Once the new power system is in place and the tracks are improved, we can run the trains faster. We can easily accommodate 800,000 passengers a day," he said.

Busan Universal is a joint venture of Busan Transport Corp., which is owned by the Korean city government of Busan and local companies Edison Development & Construction, Tramat Mercantile Inc., TMI Corp. and Castan Corp.