The Department of Transportation intends to restore the MRT Line 3 to its original, high-grade design state by July 2021. The rail replacement work for the whole stretch, which started in November 2019, is expected to be completed by February 2021. The project, which has been awarded to Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, will help increase the number of operating train sets during peak hours from 15 to 20. Further, it will increase MRT-3’s speed from 30 km per hour (kph) to 60 kph and reduce the waiting time between trains to 3.5 minutes from the present 7.5 minutes. It will also help increase the line’s capacity from the current 300,000 passengers per day to 600,000 passengers per day.
