LRTA urged to speed up installation of new rail tracks

MANILA, Philippines - For the past few months, many passengers have been complaining about the slow and shaky rides in the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 reportedly due to the worn out rail tracks that are about 30 years old.

The passengers are not the only ones protesting though.

The maintenance contractor of LRT Line 1, CPG joint venture consortium, has been following up with the LRT Authority (LRTA) the delivery and installation of new rails supposedly by private firm Jorgmann Planning and Development Corp., which bagged the P381-million rail replacement contract bid out by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) last year.

In a letter to LRTA administrator Honorito Chaneco dated July 4, 2013, Dennis Acorda, CPG lawyer and project coordinator of the LRT Line 1 maintenance, called for the “fast-tracking of the rail replacement project.”

“Rail wear and corrugation coupled with the deterioration of ballast further compromise track stability. The intensive maintenance and emergency repair conducted by our Tracks and Permanent Ways Section can no longer completely guarantee the safety and reliability of the track system,” Acorda warned the LRTA.

“With the exception of the north extension tracks and the 3,996-meter section (replaced by Marubeni) which are relatively new, the approximately 26,000 meters of the remaining tracks are due for replacement. Rails in this area are severely worn and corrugated,” Acorda said.

But lawyer Hernando Cabrera, LRTA corporate secretary and spokesman, yesterday said the rail replacement was due to start soon.

“The preparatory work is ongoing. But the actual replacement has yet to start,” Cabrera told The STAR in a phone interview.

While the contract was awarded to Jorgmann last year, Cabrera said the firm was not able to start the rail replacement immediately because the Commission on Audit (COA) raised some procedural questions on the project.

“But we have already resolved those concerns last week,” Cabrera said.

He added that the LRTA was taking measures to ensure passenger safety, such as slowing down the rail speed at the line by not lower than 40 kilometers per hour to minimize the shaking or jerking of the trains that could cause fear among passengers.

Cabrera also assured the public that it is still safe to ride the LRT Line 1, even though the train rails are about 30 years old.

LRT 1 stretches from Monumento in Caloocan to Baclaran in Pasay City.