LRT woes continue; door problem delays train at Carriedo

Glitches at the Light Rail Transit Line 1 continue to hound its operations, the latest was a door problem that delayed one of its coaches by some five minutes during rush hour Tuesday morning. LRT Administration spokesman Hernando Cabrera said the incident occurred at the Carriedo Station in downtown Manila, but said operations were back to normal. "Sa Carriedo may isang tren nahirapan magsara nang maayos ang pintuan. Okay na, nakasara nang maayos at ito nakatakbo na. Halos mga 4 to 5 minutes ang delay," Cabrera said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said the problem may have stemmed from commuters crowding the train and preventing the doors from closing properly. But he also admitted the five-minute delay will likely affect the entire system by causing an "exponential delay." "Sometimes, due to the huge number of passengers, the doors won't close as the safety protocols kick in. The train won't run until the doors close properly," he said. Cabrera said that while the LRT's standard interval for trains is three minutes, the delays have stretched the intervals to as long as six minutes. "Pag late ang isa late ang sa likod (When one train is late, those behind it will also be late)," he said. He apologized anew and asked for understanding from the riding public for the incident. "Panay pasensya ang hingi namin araw-araw (I notice we have been apologizing quite frequently lately)," he said. During the last week of March, the LRT 1 had suffered minor glitches causing delays. On March 31, a glitch disrupted its operations for the fourth time in three days. Meanwhile, the LRTA has sacked two of its personnel who figured in last February's accident that forced the closure of its Balintawak and Roosevelt stations in Quezon City. The two were not named but a report by dzBB's Glen Juego said one was an LRT operator who was found to be texting while operating the train. — LBG, GMA News