Philippines: Since the middle of July, a set of three three-car tram-trains has started operation on Manila’s MRT-3 metro line of 16.9 km. Another six vehicles are in the final phase of testing.
Between 2015 and 2017, CRRC supplied the Philippines capital with 12 four-car 8MLB tram-trains under the contract worth $63.3 mln. Part of the fleet was launched in May 2016, but the vehicles were subsequently decommissioned and put in operation again several times. It was caused by technical (incompatibility of signalling, increased axle load, and others) and legal (controversies between the Department of Transportation and the MRT-3 owner) reasons.
Tram-train by CRRC in Manila. Source: The Filipino Metro Guy, nashczmo/YouTube
As local media The Philippine Star cites the country’s government, CRRC has agreed to modify the tram-trains at no cost to the Philippines to solve the compatibility issues. The Department of Transportation expects to commission the whole fleet by 2026.
