MRT exec: Aging equipment to blame for latest disruption

Aging trains and equipment are to blame for the latest disruption of the operations of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) on Thursday morning when commuters were forced to walk along its elevated tracks, an MRT official said. MRT General Manager Glicerio Sicat admitted that their trains and equipment, which have been operating for more than 10 years already need a more frequent maintenance. "Ngayon madalas na, 10 years old ang tren. Kulang tayo sa budget, hindi natin mapalitan ang vehicles ng bago kasi wala tayong budget. Nag-a-attempt kami ng fare hike para magkaroon ng kaunting budget," Sicat said in an interview on dzBB radio on Thursday. (Our equipment needs maintenance more often now. They had been operating for more than 10 years. We do not have the budget to buy new equipment, so we are attempting a fare hike to at least raise funds.)

"Pa-age ng pa-age ang vehicles, ang mechanical items ganoon ang nangyari (Our vehicles and mechanical items are aging, so these things happen)," he added. On Thursday, commuters were forced to walk along the elevated tracks between the MRT Cubao and Santolan stations. Sicat, citing initial reports reaching him, said the incident occurred at 9:52 a.m. when the driver of Train 14 noticed the brake system had frozen. "Hininto ng piloto ang train at binuksan ang pintuan. Nakita ng tao umusok, ang iba nagtalunan. May isa natapilok, na-sprain, dinala sa Santolan (The driver stopped the train and opened the doors. When people saw smoke, some panicked and jumped off)," he said. However, Sicat could not explain why some passengers said the doors that opened were those on the side of the railroad tracks. "Everything is normal now, everything is working fine," he said. Sicat also said the MRT is open to a possible investigation of the incident by the Quezon City police. – VVP, GMANews.TV