Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon wants MRT-3 maintenance provider Sumitomo Corp. to fast-track the testing of unused Dalian light rail vehicles (LRVs) to expand the capacity of the rail system.
Dizon emphasized President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to find ways to ease the daily burden of commuters, while guaranteeing their safety.
Before its deployment for daily use, Dizon pointed out that the 48 Dalian trains must be cleared first for safety checks and requirements as well as procedures for utilization.
“The Dalian trains can actually run on MRT-3 tracks, but this needs to be cleared by the current maintenance operator of the MRT-3, which is Sumitomo Corp. of Japan,” Dizon said.
“I’ve spoken to them about this several times already and I gave them a deadline to give me a report and a straight answer: what do we need to make these trains run?” he said.
The transport chief cited Sumitomo’s safety record and expressed confidence that the maintenance provider will meticulously inspect the Dalian trains’ components to ensure its compatibility with the MRT-3 rail line.
“Sumitomo Corp. will meticulously go through their processes and make sure that these trains, if usable, will be used safely for the benefit of our commuters,” he said.
In May 2023, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Sumitomo and Oriental Consultants Global signed the P7.38-billion extended contracts for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the line until July 2025.
The scope of the new contract was expanded to include the extension of rail lines and the installation of signals to the common station, which is shared with other lines, and the expansion of the pocket track necessary for increasing the number of railcars in a train (from three-car to four-car), in addition to the maintenance of the main line.