Ref.: Mariecar Jara-Puyod
Tel. No.: +63 (2) 647-3452
September 15, 2003
The Megatren will stop running for eleven (11) Sundays, starting Sept. 21, Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) announced today.
According to LRTA Administrator Atty. Teddy Cruz, Jr., the suspension of the Sunday operations is in line with the goal of the agency to open the entire MRT 2 system from Santolan in Pasig City to Recto in Manila by the second quarter of next year.
?We have to stop the operations on Sunday until Nov. 30 to speed up the remaining works in Phase 1 (Santolan to Cubao) as well as to allow enough time for our contractors to finish the integration works linking the four operational stations to the remaining seven stations covering Phase 2 of the Purple Line,? Cruz said.
?Right now, the remaining works are being done during the workdays thus, affecting the operations of the system. But starting this week, the works will only be done during Sundays,? he added.
The seven other stations that run the stretch of Quezon City, San Juan, and Manila are Betty Go-Belmonte, Gilmore, J. Ruiz, V. Mapa, Pureza, Legarda, and Recto. The Recto Station on the southern end connects to the Doroteo Jose Station of LRT 1 which runs from Monumento in Caloocan City to Baclaran in Para?aque City.
The target date of the completion for the entire 13.8-km most modern and highly-computerized mass rail transit system in the country is summer of 2004.
The proposal to suspend Sunday operations was submitted to the LRTA administrator by operations and maintenance manager Engr. Ed San Juan.
?This, to give more time for contractors to finish and to complete any remaining works within Phase 1, prior to the start-up of Phase 2 in the second quarter of next year,? San Juan stated in a memorandum for approval by the higher management.
He said the eleven full days of Sundays would hasten the installation works needed for the ?seamless connection? between Phase 1 and Phase 2. For now, these are done at night.
The LRTA Board in a special board meeting on Sept. 11 approved the proposal. Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza who is also board chairman said: ?I am supporting the decision of LRTA in temporarily cutting down the operations of the Megatren from seven days a week to six days. Doing this will increase the pace of essential works linking the two phases of the mass rail system. I know that a lot of people have been clamoring for LRTA to open up the remaining stations.?
So far, commuters using the Megatren have been steadily increasing: 330,300
passengers for the month of August vis-avis 322,638 for July and 142,049 in
June.
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