The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) said Monday that it has reverted to the strict enforcement of one-meter physical distancing between passengers inside its trains.

It said the implementation of the distancing policy was in line with the recent decision of President Duterte to revoke the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ATF-EID) to reduce the distancing rule in public utility vehicles (PUVs) to 0.75 meters.

A total of 153 passengers will again be allowed per train set or at least 51 passengers per tram, it said.

Under the proposed reduction of physical distancing in public transport, it said that passenger capacity at the MRT-3 would rise from 153 to 204 at 0.75 meters distancing; 255 at 0.5 meters; and 286 at 0.3 meters.

The DOTr has been pushing to gradually ease physical distancing measures between commuters in public transportation to accommodate more passengers as many workers continued to return to their workplaces with the re-opening of the economy.

Under the proposal, physical distancing inside all modes of public transport will be reduced to 0.75 meters and will be adjusted after every two weeks to 0.5 meters and then to 0.3 meters to allow for optimization of ridership.

This was lower than the at least one-meter distance recommended by the World Health Organization to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.

MRT-3 management assured that it continues to implement health and safety protocols at stations and inside train wagons such as the mandatory wearing of face mask and face shield, as well as frequent disinfection of train sets.

Answering calls from any communication devices, eating food, and speaking while inside trains were also prohibited to further reduce the droplets expelled and prevent transmission of the virus.