After 10 years, Dalian trains roll out on MRT3 tracks
The first set of Dalian trains purchased from China in 2014 have finally been put into service on the tracks of the Metro Rail Transit-Line 3 (MRT-3)—after almost a decade of being stored in the train depot.
President Marcos on Wednesday led the first batch of passengers on the inaugural trip of the Dalian-serviced train at the MRT-3 Santolan-Annapolis southbound station in Quezon City.
The first passengers to ride were senior citizens and persons with disability (PWDs), who now also enjoy a 50-percent fare discount at MRT-3, as well as Light Rail Transit-Line 1 (LRT-1) and Light Rail Transit-Line 2 (LRT-2).
Mr. Marcos interacted with the senior citizens inside the coach, shaking their hands and hugging several of them. Other senior citizens cheered the President, who disembarked before the train left for the next station.
1,200 pax per trip
“We bought 48 light rail vehicles for the MRT-3 in 2014. But since then, these train units have just been sitting idle and have not been used,” Mr. Marcos said.
“So what the government did was revisit the issue, and made sure that whatever needs to be done to make use of these Dalian trains, we do it,” he added.
The President also ordered the fast-tracking of safety clearances for the remaining Dalian trains to provide commuters a more convenient and comfortable journey.
“For the rest of the Dalian trains, we’ll continue assessing and finding ways to put them to use, because they’ve been sitting unused for 10 years,” he added.
Once all become fully operational, the 48 trains will be able to serve more passengers, with each train capable of accommodating up to 1,200 passengers per trip.
“With these newly deployed Dalian trains, the travel of our fellow citizens, especially our senior citizens, PWDs and students, will become more comfortable,” the President said.
Safe for use
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon gave assurance that the trains are safe to convey passengers of MRT-3, having passed comprehensive safety and security clearances.
The assessments of the remaining safety checklist are being expedited in response to the President’s directive.
“Once the safety checks on the other Dalian trains are completed, we can either add them to the current fleet or replace existing train sets that need repairs,” Dizon said.
The 48 MRTC 3100 class light rail vehicles were purchased in 2014 with a P3.76-billion contract from the Chinese locomotive factory CCRC Dalian Co., based in Dalian, Liaoning province.
The procurement of the trains was aimed at increasing MRT-3’s capacity from 350,000 to 800,000 passengers per day, eventually decongesting the busiest among the three rapid train lines in Metro Manila.
Incompatibility issues
The delivery of the trains began in January 2016 and was completed by January 2017. But they remained unused due to compatibility issues with the MRT-3 rail line.
The government also found that each unit exceeded the specified weight. Based on its contract with Dalian, the trains should weigh 46.3 tons each but the delivered units weighed 49.7 tons.
CCRC Dalian Co. has since modified and adjusted the trains to address these compatibility issues at no cost to the Philippine government, with a technical evaluation and audit conducted by the German firm TUV Rheinland.
TUV Rheinland’s audit found that 18 trains were generally usable despite several deviations from the terms of reference for their purchase. Depending on the configuration, there could be 18 trains with three coaches each or 16 trains, each one pulling four coaches.
Before their latest deployment, the trains underwent safety checks and compliance procedures carried out by Japan’s Sumitomo Corp., which is the MRT-3’s current maintenance provider, to ensure safety and proper utilization.
The Dalian train sets were first deployed to MRT-3 for trial runs from October to December 2019.
They also had a limited run on MRT-3 tracks from May to June 2021.
A three-car Dalian train set was also used for the free MRT-3 ride program in March 2022.—WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
Sources: Inquirer Archives, pna.gov.ph
