MANILA, Philippines – After almost a month without glitches, the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) on Thursday, August 2, unloaded 420 passengers due to electrical failure.

MRT3 management said the whole train unloaded passengers at the Araneta-Cubao Station at 5:30 pm.

MRT3 said the electrical failure in the motor was due to worn-out electrical sub-components. After the breakdown, the MRT3 ran on 16 trains.

Since the year started, the MRT3 has broken down 61 times and experienced a record low of 6 running trains back in February. Ridership was cut down to around 200,000 then, from the average daily ridership of 463,000 in 2017.

Busan Universal Rail Incorporated (BURI) took over as maintenance provider of MRT3 early 2016. DOTr terminated its contract with BURI in November 2017 after it failed to address the maintenance issues raised by the government.

This August, Japan’s Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) is set to take over as the new maintenance provider. Sumitomo-MHI built and designed the MRT3 railway system from 1998 to 2000, and maintained it until 2012. – Rappler.com