Press Release
September 10, 2014

Senate to resume MRT probe

The Senate public services sub-committee on transportation, chaired by Sen. Grace Poe, will resume its probe on the state of the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) and Light Rail Transit as soon as responsible DOTC officials are available to attend the hearing.

Poe led the inquiry into the state of the country's mass transport system last Sept. 1. A second public hearing was considered on Monday, Sept. 15, but was constrained to reset the same in consideration of Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, who will be joining the President on his 12-day trip to Europe and the United States from Sept. 13 to 24.

"We owe it to the public to get to the bottom of the problem and find solutions the soonest possible time. We want to ensure the safety of our commuting public who brave the trains daily," Poe said.

The committee is also awaiting results of the ongoing technical audit on the state of the MRT-3 system and the results of the bidding of the new maintenance provider.

It was revealed in the previous hearing that a commuter has to wait 30 to 40 minutes to queue for a ticket and board the train. The government said it was the "best" that could be done while the government await the arrival of new coaches.

Poe wants an update on her recommendations to provide shuttle buses at stations where MRT trains experience operational troubles and refund of tickets or vouchers to passengers inconvenienced by train malfunctions as a way of easing the plight of commuters.

"Tutukan po natin iyan para makita man lang ng ating mga kababayan na may malasakit ang ating gobyerno dahil sobra-sobra na din po ang pasakit sa katawan at bulsa na dinaranas nila," she said.

Aside from responsible DOTC officials, expected to attend the next hearing are representatives of the Metro Rail Transit Corporation, owners of the MRT-3 system, as well as the current maintenance provider of the train system in order for the committee to have a more accurate assessment of the causes of the sorry state of the MRT-3.

The senator called for the inquiry after an MRT train overshot the tracks at the Taft Avenue station in Pasay City on Aug. 13, leaving 38 passengers hurt.

MRT-3 was designed to serve only 350,000 passengers per day, but some 600,000 people cram the system daily.

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