Glitches plague LRT for 3rd day

MANILA, Philippines - Operations at the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 were disrupted three times Wednesday due to automated doors that failed to close, an official said yesterday.

“In total, we noted three separate incidents where the line was stopped last Wednesday. All of them were traced to a problem on the train doors taking place at the Carriedo station,” LRT Authority corporate secretary Hernando Cabrera told The STAR in an interview.

The three cases last Wednesday brought the total of line stoppage incidents at the LRT Line 1 to five so far this week.

He said Wednesday’s incidents were caused by the failure of the train doors to close, which causes “the train to automatically stop running and the doors to (remain) open… We believe that the calibration of the door sensors are misaligned.”

Cabrera shared that they are zeroing in on passengers’ bad habits of leaning on doors, pushing the doors or inserting objects between the doors especially during peak hours when many want to force themselves inside the train, as a cause of the door sensors’ calibration problem.

Cabrera said they are planning to undertake a massive information campaign to inform passengers to avoid these habits and take special care of the train doors.

“They should not push the doors. They should not put their foot or other objects between the doors to stop them from closing, because this affects the sensors. In the end, everybody will get affected because these glitches will happen regularly, like what we have seen happen the past several days,” he said.

There are speculations that these glitches are being highlighted in a bid to increase fares at the LRT and the Metro Rail Transit.

Wednesday’s first glitch was at around 9:14 a.m., when a southbound train that stopped at the Carriedo station could not resume its run when its doors failed to close. Passengers of the train had to be unloaded to allow technical personnel to fix the problem. Rail line operations resumed at around 9:21 a.m.

At around 5:50 p.m., a northbound train failed to run for “five to six minutes” after passengers stopped its doors from closing and forced their way into the train despite alarms going off because the train was overloaded.

The last incident, Cabrera said, was at 6:48 p.m., when a northbound train failed to close as a result of a glitch in the door sensors. Rail line operations resumed at 7 p.m. 

During Monday’s morning rush hour, a worn “solenoid valve” in a southbound train burned and emitted smoke, scaring hundreds of passengers at the United Nations Avenue station. Some passengers smashed windows to get out, while others pressed the emergency door button, which worked after a few minutes. Four were hurt in the ensuing stampede.

The next day, also during the morning rush hour, the entire LRT Line 1 stopped its operations for 25 minutes when a northbound train’s doors failed to close.

The LRTA pays Comm Builders and Technology Philippines P35 million a month to ensure the rail line runs smoothly and all the Line 1’s technical equipment, which includes its rolling stock or light rail vehicles and rail tracks, are maintained properly.