MRT3 Poor Maintenance Means Accidents #ExpertWriter

MRT3 train went through the metal railings at the Taft Avenue station last Wednesday, 13th of August 2014 that caused injury to at least 38 people and government authorities were eager to discover the cause of the incident.

Authorities will be investigating if the accident was caused by human error on the part of the train operators or by the mechanical failure of the train couplings. The train had stopped dead on its tracks, due supposedly to power drop at the catenary, the stick that links the electricity-powered LRVs to the cable above.

Attempts to restart the train failed. The next three-LRV train unloaded its passengers at Magallanes, and then proceeded to the rescue 50 meters away. After coupling with the stalled train, the second began to push it down the tracks towards road-level Taft. It had just left the Magallanes station. The railway from Magallanes station to Taft Avenue station has a downward slope that made the coupler to snap. Besides, the weight of the first train with passengers caused the gravity to pull like a rollercoaster. Instead of stopping it, the brake malfunctions and gave way to bumped, went through the metal railings that caused damage to the passengers and the train itself.

Is it true that they connected and locked properly? Tested it? If it’s locked, they were doing the right procedures? Is there a coupler’s mechanical failure? Or, the driver’s forgot about the downward slope?

MRT safety procedures require the operator to contain the passengers inside the train if it stalls in between stations. And, it would have been too dangerous to make passengers alight from the stalled train before another train could push it to the nearest station.

The poor maintenance of the MRT3 which is managed by DOTC headed by Jun Abaya wanted to elevate its services. But, he should exert more efforts in developing the train systems for the consumption of the riding public. His statement, “Riding is a personal decision. I won't go of my way to convince people to ride the MRT," makes him a hypocrite, not a leader of DOTC. He should at least, face the consequences when worst comes to worst, because that's his responsibility to the people.

The MRT3 was built on budget and on schedule. It was fully accepted by foreign experts and the Philippine government in 2000. The trains operated with no major accidents for 12 years under Sumimoto maintenance. Sumimoto and Mitsubishi continually upgraded maintenance procedures. All major accidents happened only in the last 2 years under the PHTRAMS-Vitangcol-linked maintenance groups.

Because of this negative image of MRT due to Vittangcol case, the contract turned into a damaging event like what happened last 13th of August 2014. It should never be a clumsy decision when it comes to finding maintenance group to take good care of all coasters. Yes, there were other problems in getting people to manage the MRT3 properly, but, the leader like the DOTC must be on guard always for the good of the riding public. The government must be aware and ready to apply their long-term solutions at once to avoid accidents in the future.