LRT operations suspended due to winds, power outage

A power glitch disrupted the operations of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 while inclement weather conditions from Typhoon Pedring (Nesat) forced the LRT's Line 2 to temporarily stop operations. LRT Administration spokesman Hernando Cabrera said the Metro Rail Transit 3 was indirectly affected, having to run slowly due to bad weather conditions. "Nawalan tayo ng Meralco supply sa Line 1 kaya tinigil natin ito (Our Meralco supply was cut off to our Line 1 so we had to stop operating)," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said they do not have a timetable on when operations could resume. On the other hand, he said they had to temporarily stop LRT-2 operations because of the strong winds. "Sa Line 2 masyadong malakas ang hangin sa Santolan. For safety reason, para sa kaligtasan ng pasahero maiwasan sila ma-stranded, minabuti natin itigil natin ang operation ng lines 1 at 2 (The wind is too strong for Line 2. For safety reason to prevent passengers from being stranded, we temporarily stopped the operations of Lines 1 and 2)," he said. Citing initial reports reaching him, Cabrera said power supply to four of the LRT's substations was cut off. "Nakatigil pero at the moment bigyan ng supply balik agad ang operation (Our operations are out now but once Meralco power supply resumes, we will resume operations)," he said. The LRT-1 links Baclaran in southern Metro Manila to Roosevelt in Quezon City. On the other hand, Cabrera said inclement weather conditions forced the MRT-3 line to go very slowly. "Ang visibility malabo kaya mabagal ang takbo (Visibility was poor so the trains had to run slowly)," he said. He said the trains are running at only 30 to 35 kph compared to the "normal" 60 kph. — RSJ, GMA News