A lawmaker from the Visayas on Monday called on the Department of Transportation to speed up the rehabilitation of more Metro Rail Transit-3 trains.
Samar Rep. Edgar Sarmiento, vice chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation, made the call because of the onset of the Christmas season which he said would create a drastic increase in the number of MRT riders.
Based on experience, Sarmiento said traffic in EDSA and most of Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares are at its worst from November to December because of the Christmas rush. It is estimated that the Philippines is losing P3.5 billion in economic opportunities due to the Metro Manila’s “carmageddon,” he added.
The DoTR earlier announced that it aims to have 20 operational trains at the MRT by yearend.