President Marcos on Wednesday announced the long-awaited deployment of the Dalian trains for commercial use at the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3, nearly a decade after the government had purchased the train sets.
“This is the first day that these Dalian trains are finally in service — mula noong binili, hindi pa nagamit ito (Since they were purchased, they haven’t been used until now),” Marcos said as a Dalian train coasts by the MRT-3 Santolan-Annapolis Station.
The Philippines acquired 48 light rail vehicles in 2014 from CCRC Dalian Co., but technical compatibility issues prevented their operation on the MRT-3 system.
“Ngayon pa lang, three trains na tatlong karwahe. So, nine nitong cars na ito… tuloy-tuloy natin na titingnan at gagawan ng paraan para magamit dahil sampung taon nakaparada ito eh (For now, three trains with three coaches each — nine cars total — will be used. We will keep working to make all of them operational after being parked for 10 years),” he said.
German firm TUV Rheinland oversaw a full technical audit, while MRT-3’s current maintenance provider, Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, conducted final safety checks.
Once all 48 Dalian cars are deployed, the capacity is expected to increase significantly, with reduced intervals between trains from four minutes to as low as 2.5 minutes.
The MRT-3 currently serves around 380,000 passengers daily.
“Kaya nakakatuwa naman. Hindi naman nasayang ang ating pondo (It’s very encouraging. Our public funds were not wasted after all),” the President said.
