MANILA — The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) targets to replace all air conditioning units of the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) within eight to 12 months.
The LRTA has signed earlier this month a PHP350-million contract for the replacement of 80 air conditioning units for 10 running trains with the joint venture of Multi-Scan Corp. and MRail Inc.
“It shall take around eight to 12 months to complete kasi lahat po ng mga piyesa ng air conditioner natin ay pawang obsolete na. (because all the parts of the air conditioner are already obsolete),” LRTA Administrator Reynaldo Berroya said in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the LRT-2’s train driving simulator held at its Recto station in Manila on Wednesday.
LRTA is looking at installing the replacement parts one train at a time as a stopgap measure to ensure comfortable travel for passengers this summer.
“As of kahapon, na-approve po ng ManCom yung stop gap measure namin (As of yesterday, the management committee has approved our stopgap measure) that shall commence maybe next week and it shall complete one coach in 15 days and other coaches in succeeding weeks,” Berroya said.
“Iyon po ang stop gap measure upang maging malamig na agad (This is the stopgap measure to make it cool quickly). This is no assurance that it will last long so the final solution is the systematic replacement of all aircon units,” he added.
Multi-Scan and MRail have committed to provide expertise and skills in the Systematic ACU Replacement project.
The new aircon units will be able to integrate with the train monitoring system and shall be environment-friendly, energy-efficient and compliant with the Clean Air Act.
The systematic replacement of the air conditioning system is part of initiatives to rehabilitate and modernize the LRT-2 system. (PNA)
