Nearly a decade since they were brought in from China, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is targeting to deploy all 48 Dalian train sets on Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) by next year.

“Our target is for the entire 2026, the entire 48 train sets can already run along the railway,” said Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez in an interview on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

Lopez said the aim is to roll out the train sets by batch per month throughout the year, with the DOTr steadily completing safety checks on each train prior to deployment.

The first batch of Dalian trains that will run on MRT-3 will be deployed on Christmas Day, with three train sets returning to the rail line after a brief pilot test months ago.

Last week, Lopez said he directed MRT-3 management to conduct strict safety checks and utilization procedures on the three-car train sets to ensure that they are safe for passengers to ride.

He said this level of attention will be the standard for the government moving forward, especially as 12 more Dalian train sets are planned to be operational by the first quarter of 2026.

The government purchased the train sets in 2014 under a ₱3.8-billion contract with Chinese train manufacturer CRRC Dalian Co., formerly known as Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co., to accommodate more passengers and improve the headway, or the interval between trains.

Delivery of the train units began in 2015 and was completed in 2017.

But due to compatibility issues with MRT-3’s rail line, the Dalian train sets were left idle for nearly a decade, aside from short test runs over the years.

Back in July, the DOTr said CRRC Dalian has since modified and adjusted the trains to address compatibility issues at no cost to the government.

The agency also said that a technical evaluation and audit were conducted by German firm TÜV Rheinland on the train sets, with additional safety checks and compliance procedures by MRT-3’s maintenance provider, Japan-based Sumitomo Corp.

MRT-3 General Manager Michael Capati said the plan for next year is to deploy the Dalian train sets while the current CKD trains are undergoing maintenance, and vice versa.

“Since there were a lot of issues before, we have to make sure that [everything] fits in,” he told Manila Bulletin.

Once fully deployed, the 48 Dalian trains are expected to help decongest the capital region’s busiest railway, with each train set capable of carrying up to 1,156 passengers.

MRT-3 currently averages about 380,000 passengers per day.

The expected headway for passengers will be around two minutes, an improvement from the current average interval of approximately four to five minutes.