MRT-3 to borrow trains from the LRTA

The Business Mirror reported yesterday that the DOTC intends to borrow 40 trains from the LRTA to fill up the shortage of the MRT-3. This option is being explored because according to DOTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza, the cost of new coaches is prohibitive, and that delivery of newly-purchased trains would take time. 

Now Pedestrian Pinoy is not sufficiently informed of the precise dimensions of the trains of either the LRT-1 or that of the MRT-3, and despite the similarities -- they both run on rails and are powered by overhead cables -- based on experience, the design and size of these carriages are not even remotely alike. Take a look at these photos of the interior of the trains:

Secretary Mendoza admits this when he said that the LRT-1 coaches need to be converted to fit the MRT-3 tracks. "The LRT cars are slightly different from the MRT-3 coaches." Perhaps Secretary Mendoza's knowledge of the our elevated railways isn't so different from that of Pedestrian Pinoy's.

Nevertheless, this proposal begs further questions: will the MRT-3 borrow LRT-1's new coaches? Or the vintage, pre-1990s trains? Also, does the LRT-1 enjoy such a huge surplus of trains that it is actually in a position to lend its cars to the MRT-3? 

Barely a decade into full operation, the MRT-3 has breached its riding capacity. It is the usual story of many of our mass-based transport facilities: the absolute lack of foresight and incredible if not ill-advised cutbacks (whether as a result of extraordinary inflation or illegal kickbacks) have affected design and possibilities for future growth and redevelopment. The options that are now being explored to address the manifold of problems besetting the MRT Corp. are, at the very least, disconcerting. In the end, it is the riding public that suffers as a result of the government's incompetence and the private sector's failures.