PHILIPPINES: The first three of 16 three-section light rail vehicles that CNR Dalian (now CRRC Dalian) built under a January 2014 contract entered revenue service on the MRT3 light metro line in Manila on July 16.
‘For now, three trains with three cars each, nine cars total, will be used. We will keep working to make all of them operational after being parked for 10 years’, Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said.
Two more trainsets are expected to enter service later this year according to Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon. He expects all 48 vehicles to be in service next year.
Speaking to Railway Gazette International in Manila in March 2024, Oscar Bongon, Director of Operations for MRT3 at the Department of Transportation, said the DoTr was ‘continuously co-ordinating with the supplier to sort the compatibility problems of the trains and the depot equipment’.
- Since July 25, passengers can use Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards, as well as QR codes and NFC payment on their smartphones to pay for journeys on MRT3. The technology was provided by Kentcard.
