The Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) announced on Wednesday it has completed a P1-billion rehabilitation program for 25 of its Light Rail Transit-1 trains, expanding the fleet to 102 at the end of May 2017.
“While awaiting the procurement of 120 new light rail vehicles (LRVs) by the Philippine government, LRMC has embarked on a P1-billion program for the restoration of LRVs and improvement of system reliability,” the company announced in a statement.
“The restoration of 25 LRVs has expanded the current fleet of LRT-1 from 77 when the company took over in 2015 to 102 LRVs at end-May this year,” the LRMC stated.
The reconditioning of LRVs will be in preparation for the upcoming increase of daily weekday trips from 498 to 554, which date of start is still pending for approval from the Light Rail Transit Authority, operator of LRT-2.
The restoration program necessitated the sourcing of spare parts from the original European manufacturers of the 32-year old Generation 1 trains and the 18-year old Generation 2 trains and the body repair of 43 Gen1 trains.
“Our engineers have successfully gained the confidence of European spare parts manufacturers such as Alstom, Gerkens, and Knorr Bremse, among others, for the supply of electromechanical parts that were essential to restore LRVs,” according to LRMC President and Chief Executive Officer Rogelio Singson.
The full rail replacement of the old system is also almost complete, the LRMC said.
08 June 2017
By Reicelene Joy Ignacio
