2 LRT trains collide in QC

MANILA, Philippines –  Two trains of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 collided yesterday morning and damaged a portion of the emergency walkway on the side of the elevated tracks. 

Falling debris hit a taxicab that was passing below the tracks along EDSA in Quezon City.

No one was hurt in the incident that occurred at around 10 a.m., but the Roosevelt station of the LRT in front of Waltermart shopping mall along EDSA was closed to allow crews to repair the damage.

LRT spokesman Hernando Cabrera said they could not immediately say how long the repairs would take before the Roosevelt station becomes operational.

Cabrera said an automatic switch failed to prevent a train from the southbound lane from going into the reverse track.

At that time, another train was already on the reverse track.

The collision happened at the portion of the reverse track in front of SM North, which is about 100 meters from the Roosevelt station.

Cabrera said LRT officials are still trying to find out what caused the failure of the switch.

He explained that there was supposed to be a sensor that would prevent the other train from proceeding into the reverse track.

He said the trains have a pedal brake and an emergency brake. He said that a check after the incident showed the brakes were all operational.

“But we’d like to know what happened, maybe they didn’t work in time to prevent the incident from happening,” Cabrera said.

Both trains did not have any passengers and were supposed to go on the reverse track to transfer to the northbound lane. The Roosevelt station is the last station of the LRT line.

He said the LRT would use the reverse track at the Balintawak station pending renovation of the Roosevelt station.

Cabrera said an estimated 16,000 passengers were not able to get on at the Roosevelt station and were diverted to the nearby Balintawak station.

Fiberglass debris of the emergency walkway fell to the road below and damaged a taxicab.

Taxi driver Reynaldo Lacsina said that he had a passenger and was on the southbound lane of EDSA when the fiberglass fell on the vehicle’s hood.

“I’m just thankful that I and my passenger did not get hurt in the incident,” Lacsina said.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) ordered the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) to conduct a thorough investigation into the train collision.

Dante Velasco, DOTC Undersecretary for Public Information and Management Information Systems, said, “We will wait for their report on the incident.”

Hernando Cabrera, LRTA corporate secretary and spokesman, said that the train collision temporarily stopped the operations of the entire LRT Line 1 from the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan to Baclaran, Parañaque. With Rainier Allan Ronda