The Metro Rail Transit-3 operation was temporarily suspended early Wednesday, November 2, delaying trips of commuters coming to work after a long weekend.
The train operation was temporarily halted at around 5 a.m. but resumed more than an hour later.
The advisories about the disruption of train operation, however, were issued too late for commuters who have to take the trains at around the same time in the morning.
At 6:36 a.m., the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) advised motorists and commuters about MRT-3’s temporary halt of operation due to a technical problem at the Shaw Boulevard Station.
MMDA said that it eyed possible transportation aid to affected commuters at that time.
This was released via MMDA’s social media channels.
“MMDA ADVISORY: MRT halted operation due to [a technical] problem at Shaw Blvd. Station as of 6:24 AM. [The situation] was coordinated with MMDA Road Emergency Group and Director Francis Martinez for possible transportation aid,” the agency said.
MMDA ADVISORY: MRT halted operation due to technical problem at Shaw Blvd. Station as of 6:24 AM. Situation was coordinated with MMDA Road Emergency Group and Director Francis Martinez for possible transportation aid. #mmda
— Official MMDA (@MMDA) November 1, 2022
Nearly an hour later at around 7 a.m., the Department of Transportation-MRT-3 posted additional details about the cause of the disruption.
DOTr-MRT-3 noted that the incident happened at 5:12 a.m.
In the post, the agency said that train operation was disrupted because of an “abnormal signaling indication encountered along Shaw Blvd station.”
“All trains were stopped at the nearest station as a precautionary measure as technicians troubleshoot the issue,” it said.
By 6:58 a.m., or more than an hour later, the train operation resumed after the Control Center reported “normal indication” on the signaling system.
“At 6:52 a.m., the Control Center reported normal indication on the signaling system. Full and normal operations resumed at 6:58 a.m. We apologize for the inconvenience,” DOTr-MRT-3 said.
Train operations, therefore, were not working for more than an hour before commuters were informed about it.
Given the window time, commuters have already taken up the trains to get to their destinations during the first day of work week on Wednesday morning.
Some of them expressed their frustrations over the perceived delayed of advisory via the comments section of the post.
“Super late po ng announcement niyo,” one Facebook user said.
“Pakalate naman ng update niyo sa pasahero…nawawala pagiging consistent niyo sa pag-a-update,” another online user commented.
Other commuters also criticized such inconvenience during the first day of work after a long weekend break.
“Sobrang hassle…first day ng work ng karamihan tapos ganyan,” an online user said.
“Meron kayong apat na araw para mag-handa,” another user tweeted.
As of August 1, here’s the weekday schedule of MRT-3 trains:
- North Avenue
First trip – 4:36 a.m.
Last trip – 9:30 p.m.
- Taft Avenue
First trip – 5:18 a.m.
Last trip – 10:11 p.m.
The train system traverses through different busy districts and cities along EDSA from Pasay City to Quezon City.
These districts and areas include Ayala Center and Buendia in Makati City, Ortigas Center in Mandaluyong City, and Cubao and Diliman in Quezon City.