METRO trains built by CRRC Dalian for Line MRT-3 in Manila finally entered service on July 16, eight years after they were delivered.
A total of 12 four-car class 3100 trains have been stored out of use at the MRT-3 depot in North Avenue, Quezon City, for extended periods since they were delivered in 2017. On arrival they were found to be incompatible with the existing infrastructure.
A lengthy period of political argument then followed over the future of the new trains, ordered at a cost of Pesos 3.7bn ($US 63.3m) as part of the MRT-3 upgrade programme to supplement the existing fleet and increase capacity.
Last year, the chair of the Committee of Public Services of the Senate of the Philippines, senator Raffy Tulfo, suggested that the Department of Transportation (DOTr) should renegotiate the contract so that the trains could be returned and the purchase price refunded.
"For now, three trains with three coaches each, nine cars total, will be used,” said the president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos on July 16. “We will keep working to make all of them operational."
According to local news outlet The Philippine Star, the Presidential Palace has confirmed that CRRC Dalian will modify the trains to address compatibility issues at no cost to the Philippine government. Before the first trains entered passenger service this year, German firm TÜV Rheinland oversaw a full technical audit, while MRT-3’s current maintenance provider, Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, conducted final safety checks and compliance procedures.
Once fully deployed, the new trains, each capable of carrying up to 1200 passengers, will significantly boost capacity on Line MRT-3, which currently carries an average of 380,000 passengers a day. Entry into service of the new fleet will also reduce intervals between trains from 4 minutes to 2min 30sec
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