The Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) will temporarily shorten its operating hours beginning Saturday until the end of April due to the increasing number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections among its front-line personnel.

In a statement on Thursday, the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), the operator and maintenance provider of the LRT-2, said its trains will operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with its normal operations schedule expected to resume on May 1.

Out of the LRT-2’s 1,944 personnel, 1,906 have undergone testing from April 7 to 8 following a directive from Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.

To date, it said 273 LRT-2 workers have tested positive for Covid-19.

“Currently, only 56 percent are functional among ticket management and sales collection personnel, about 73 percent among train drivers, and 68 percent among our station personnel are left available with the rest under quarantine due to Covid-19 infection/exposure,” the LRTA said.

LRTA chief Reynaldo Berroya said the decision to shorten LRT-2 operating hours was made in compliance with guidelines from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to further prevent the spread of Covid-19 and avoid full suspension of the rail service.

“We have already isolated all the infected/exposed personnel, have implemented work-from-home arrangements for depot workers, revisited train ventilation and air-flow protocols, and ensured that all minimum public health standards are complied with at all times to avoid the further spread of the virus,” Berroya said.

The reduced operating hours, he said, will allow the LRTA to “effectively manage” train operations during its manpower deficit.

He said the recent declaration of a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) over NCR plus until the end of April was also a factor in the decision, noting an anticipated “significant decline” in ridership for the rest of the month.

“At this time of public health emergency, the welfare and safety of both our passengers and personnel must always come first,” Berroya said.

In the meantime, affected passengers of the LRT-2 may take buses plying the Antipolo to Cubao route and Cubao to Doroteo Jose route.

Since the resumption of operations from their annual Holy Week suspension, all four rail services in Metro Manila went under limited operations to allow for the mass testing of all rail workers.

Photo Source: Facebook/Light Rail Transit Authority – LRT2