Metro rail lines have 337 COVID cases; limited operations announced

by Ellson Quismorio, Manila Bulletin, 4 Apr 2021

The continuing surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases will lead to the limited operations of the Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT-1), LRT-2, and Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) beginning Monday, April 5 after hundreds of infections among its employees were reported.

This was learned from a virtual press conference of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) Sunday afternoon, April 4, even as the participating officials acknowledged the extension of the prevailing enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in “NCR-plus” for at least one more week starting April 5.

“Ang ating rail sector, ang ating rail operators ay kinakailangan na limitahan at bawasan ang aming operasyon sapagkat tumataas na ang numero ng mga kawani ng rail sector na natatamaan ng COVID-19 (Our rail sector, our rail operators need to limit and lessen their operations because of the rising number of rail sector workers who are getting afflicted with COVID-19 ),” DOTr Asec. Banoy Lopez said.

“Sa kadahilanang ito, ipinag-utos po ni Sec. Art Tugade na magsawa ng mass-testing upang sa ganun ay makakatiyak tayo na ang kawaning pumapasok at nagtatrabaho sa ating mga riles ay COVID-free at para na rin sa kapayapaan ng isip ng ating mananakay (For this reason, Sec. Art Tugade has ordered the conduct of mass testing so that we can assure a COVID-free workforce in the rail sector as well as the peace of mind of the riding public),” Lopez said.

The number of COVID-positive employees per rail system are the following, as reported by their respective managers during the presser: LRT-1, 94 positive out of 281 tested; LRT-2, 136 out of 529; MRT-3, 107 out of 604. The tests are ongoing.

The limited operations within the triumvirate systems will take the form of deployment of fewer trains sets or coaches. On Monday, LRT-1 will deploy 17 train sets (from 24); LRT-2 will deploy five traim sets, which is already its “ECQ minimum”; while MRT-3 will deploy 10 to 12 train sets (from 18 to 20).

However, the start and end schedules of the train lines will remain the same.

Timothy John Batan, DOTr undersecretary for railways, said the mass testing of rail sector employees began last week, when the workers were in the middle of their Holy Week maintenance shutdown schedule. Normal operations for the three metro rail systems as well as the Philippine National Railways (PNR) were supposed to resume Monday.

“Inaasahan po natin na matapos yan by middle of this week. Kasama po natin dyan yung Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), sina Admiral (George) Ursabia (Jr.) po na tinutulungan tayo na matapos itong testing ng lahat ng ating kawani (We expect mass testing to be finished by middle of this week. The PCG under Admiral Ursabia has been helping us complete the testing of our employees),” Batan said.

Meanwhile, 91 out of the 579 tested PNR employees have also turned out for COVID-19. PNR General Manager Jun Magno said they will resume operations, albeit on a limited capacity, on April 9, a day after they are expected to finish testing.

“Nag-decide na po ang PNR with a recommendation to the department, na ihinto po muna namin yung serbisyo hanggang sa ma-segregate namin yung healthy na employees namin against then infected ones (The PNR has decided via recommendation to the department to temporarily suspend service until we are able to segregate our healthy employees from the infected ones),” Magno said.

Affected passengers by the limited operations of MRT-3 will be assisted and served by augmenting buses running on the EDSA Carousel route.

Passengers displaced by the limited capacity of LRT-2 will be accommodated by existing bus routes 9 and 10, while affected passengers from LRT-1 will be accommodated by buses running on Route 17 (Monumento-EDSA via Rizal Avenue/Taft Avenue).

The DOTr reminded passengers and personnel to strictly observe the health protocols inside the trains and stations for their own safety. Passengers inside the trains who will be caught violating these protocols shall be escorted out on the next station, while appropriate disciplinary action / suspension shall be imposed on personnel caught violating the same rules.