MRT3 extends anew free rides until June 30

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday announced the extension for another month of the free rides on the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3).

At a virtual press briefing, MRT3 general manager Mike Capati announced that passengers of the railway line will continue enjoying free rides until June 30, 2022, anytime during the line’s operating hours from 4:40 a.m. to 10:10 p.m.

The free rides were initially implemented from march 28 to April 30 in celebration of the completion of the MRT3’s rehabilitation.

It was extended further until the end of May to ease the financial burden of commuters amid the spike in petroleum prices.

The extension of the free rides on MRT3 “aims to continue helping commuters ease their financial burden amid inflation and rising fuel prices,” according to Capati.

“This will allow the MRT3 to further test its capacity and performance in accommodating up to or more than 350,000 passengers,” he said.

Also, the MRT3 chief said the railway line recorded 15,730,872 total ridership from March 28 to May 24, with an average weekly ridership of 315,334.

The MRT3 recorded its highest ridership at 351,592 on May 20, 2022.

Capati said four-car CKD trains are sets which can accommodate up to 1,576 passengers will be deployed to augment the line’s capacity, apart from the usual three-car train sets.

Foregone revenues

The MRT3 chief said the estimated foregone revenues for the railway line from March 28 to May 24 reached P286 million.

The amount was subsidized by the government from the MRT3’s P7.1-billion budget for operations in 2022.

For another month extension of the free rides program, Capati said the foregone revenues is estimated between P150 million and P180 million.

The MRT-3 Management and its maintenance provider, Sumitomo-MHI-TESP, completed the rehabilitation of the rail line last December 2021.

Following its rehabilitation, the MRT3 now operates at the speed of up to 60 kilometers per hour (kph) from the previous 25 kph.

The number of trains have also increased from as few as 15, now up to 23 operational trains. Meanwhile, the headway or the waiting time between trains has been reduced from around 10 minutes to as low as 3.5 minutes.

Under the MRT-3 rehabilitation project, the entire stretch of the line's mainline tracks was replaced and rehabilitated. Also upgraded were the line's power supply, overhead catenary system, rolling stock, communications and signaling system, stations, as well as depot facilities and equipment.

How to avail

Capati said that the same mechanics or procedures will be used in availing the free rides.

All passengers are entitled to free rides at all of the line's stations, from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City.

The free rides are available for the entire day of MRT3 operations, from the first trip beginning at North Avenue at 4:40 a.m. to the last trip from Taft Avenue at 10:10 p.m., with the exception of April 12-17, due to the Holy Week maintenance shutdown.

For those with stored value or Beep cards, passengers will only have to tap their tickets on the station’s turnstile gate.

While the free ride offer is still in effect, there will be no deductions from a passenger's Beep card balance.

If an error deduction occurs, the passenger has to approach the teller’s booth for verification of the deducted amount and to avail of a station pass equivalent to the amount that can be used after the free ride program.

For those without Beep cards, passengers will only have to approach the ticketing booth to get a single journey ticket free of charge, which can be tapped to enter the station’s turnstile gates.

A penalty of P50 will be imposed for either the loss or damage of a single journey ticket. —LBG, GMA News