OVER 1,400 passengers were forced to get off two Metro Rail Transit trains on Monday after glitches hit the system anew.
The first train stalled at 8:29 a.m. and forced 580 passengers to get off at the Araneta Center Cubao station after a signaling error, MRT-3 media relations officer Aly Narvaez said in an advisory. They boarded the next train that arrived four minutes after, she added.
The next train, headed southbound, offloaded 870 passengers at the Shaw Boulevard station due to electrical failure. MRT management said the train’s “worn-out” sub-components caused both glitches.
The MRT, which traverses Edsa, has been suffering from frequent glitches over maintenance woes as it ferries over 560,000 passengers daily. The Department of Transportation, which oversees the train system, is negotiating with Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. to return as its maintenance provider.
Meanwhile, the Metro Manila Development Authority on Monday released a traffic management plan to be enforced on Commonwealth Avenue and Elliptical Road in Quezon City, after private contractors expanded their works in connection with the construction of the P70-billion MRT System Line 7.
MMDA acting general manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. said the existing U-turn slot at Commonwealth Avenue-Philcoa (Philippine Coconut Authority) will be closed to motorists beginning Thursday, March 29, in preparation for the tunnel guide way for MRT 7 project.
Affected motorists must use Elliptical Road going back to Commonwealth Avenue eastbound.
“We are glad private contractors are coordinating with us to make the necessary adjustments to ease the expected traffic build-up in the area caused by the ongoing MRT 7 construction,” Garcia said in a press briefing.
The private contractors will also occupy two inner lanes in both directions of Commonwealth-Philcoa as the construction work progresses.
To make up for the occupied lanes, the MMDA and the private contractors have agreed to widen the remaining lanes by removing obstructions on the outer portions of Commonwealth Avenue.
The MMDA will also install plastic barriers on Maharlika Street, which will serve as separators to prevent vehicles going to Commonwealth Avenue from swerving into other lanes, causing traffic build-up along Elliptical Road.
Vehicles traversing Elliptical Road going to Visayas and North Avenue area should stay at the left lane while vehicles going to Commonwealth Avenue should stay at the right lane.
MMDA Traffic Engineering Center data showed that at least 2,115 vehicles are traversing Elliptical Road to Visayas and North Avenue during morning rush hours, while vehicles from Elliptical Road going to Commonwealth Avenue numbers to 4,120 on the same period.
In 2016, Commonwealth Avenue an annual average daily traffic of 272,255 vehicles.