THE MRT-3 provided free rides to a total of 28,624,982 million commuters under its Libreng Sakay Program, which ran for three months from 28 March to 30 June 2022.
The program, extended twice by the Management, was the longest that the MRT-3 provided free rides for its commuters, to help ease their financial burden amid rising costs of fuel and goods.
The program also aimed at presenting to the passengers the improved services of the MRT-3 as a result of the completion of its massive rehabilitation. On the part of the Management, it allowed for the testing of the performance of the rail line’s upgraded subsystems in accommodating more passengers.
Ridership data collected by the MRT-3 show the number of passengers who availed free rides increased month-on-month. MRT-3 served a total of 8,472,637 passengers from 28 March to 30 April 2022, 9,597,794 passengers from 1 to 31 May 2022, and 10,554,551 passengers from 1 to 30 June 2022.
The single-day highest ridership was recorded on 10 June 2022, when 381,814 passengers took the MRT-3. This was the highest number of passengers posted by the rail line since it returned to operations on June 2020.
To be able to ferry more passengers, the MRT-3 Management also began the deployment of CKD trains in four-car configuration during the LIBRENG SAKAY program. A four-car train can accommodate up to 1,576 passengers compared to the 1,186 passengers that three-car trains can carry.
No unloading incident was recorded during the whole run of the LIBRENG SAKAY program, even with the increasing number of passengers served by the rail line.
The MRT-3 completed its massive rehabilitation last December 2021 with the help of its maintenance provider Sumitomo-MHI-TESP.
With the continued overhauling of the line’s light rail vehicles, the MRT-3 Management eyes to continue the deployment of four-car train sets for revenue, to respond to the increasing number of commuters.
“We assure the public that the MRT-3 is ready to serve more passengers on a daily basis. This is precisely what we have been testing these past months of our implementation of the LIBRENG SAKAY in MRT-3,” OIC-General Manager and Director for Operations Michael J. Capati said.
As of June 2022, a total of 57 light rail vehicles have been successfully overhauled by the rail line’s maintenance provider, and only 15 more are set to undergo overhauling. The MRT-3 deploys an average of 14 to 16 3-car trains and up to four 4-car train sets each day.
Meanwhile, the MRT-3 also concluded its FREE RANDOM ANTIGEN TESTING for voluntary passengers yesterday, 30 June 2022, with a total of 3,250 tests conducted since 11 January 2022. Since 28 January 2022, no incident of positive antigen test was recorded by the MRT-3.
Minimum health and safety protocols inside all MRT-3 premises continue to be stringently observed by train and platform marshalls. Talking, eating, drinking, and making phone calls are strictly prohibited, and passengers are required to wear face masks at all times.
