FOR the past several months I have been commuting to the office on a daily basis via the dreaded Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), the worst, but most heavily used, of Metro Manila’s three existing light rail lines. Enduring this soul-sucking exercise twice a day for five or six days a week has allowed me to more or less continuously monitor the progress of the MRT-3 rehabilitation project, which began in May of last year. What I have observed has been enough to declare the project at least a partial failure, even though its expected completion date is still about 33 months away.
Secretary Arthur Tugade and his people at the Department of Transportation (DoTr) would probably be dismayed by that conclusion, but they should take it to heart, because it is warranted. To understand how, we need only take a look at the chain of events leading up to the MRT-3’s current state.