The Department of Transportation (DOTr) Road Sector will continue to deploy augmentation buses to service passengers affected by the limited operations of Metro Manila's major railway systems this week.
In an announcement on Monday, April 5, the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) management said public utility buses (PUBs) under DOTr's EDSA Carousel Bus Augmentation Program will remain operational.
The buses will be rolled out along the MRT-3's route from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Buses under the augmentation program were first deployed during the temporary suspension of the line's operations from March 30, Holy Tuesday, to April 4, Easter Sunday, or during its annual maintenance and rehabilitation works. Maintenance works were also carried out on Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT-1), LRT-2, and Philippine National Railways (PNR).
It was earlier announced Sunday, April 4 that affected passengers of LRT-1 will be accommodated by buses running on route 17 (Monumento-EDSA via Rizal Avenue/Taft Avenue), while buses on routes 9 and 10 will ferry LRT-2 passengers.
DOTr Rail Sector has said that while the three metro railway systems will resume operations on April 5, they will tap fewer train sets or coaches after hundreds of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections among its employees were reported.
The number of COVID-positive employees per rail system are the following, as reported by their respective managers during a virtual press conference Sunday: LRT-1, 94 positive out of 281 tested; LRT-2, 136 out of 529; MRT-3, 107 out of 604. The mass testing of railway sector workers is ongoing.
The start of limited operations also coincided with the extension of the enhanced community quarantine (GCQ) in Metro Manila and its four nearby provinces--Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal.
The DOTr reminded drivers and operators, as well as passengers, to strictly enforce and follow minimum health standards while inside public utility vehicles to contain the spread of COVID-19.