The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) has reached a daily ridership of 294,621 on Thursday, beating the previous day’s record of 293,290.

This is the highest since the rail service resumed operations amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in June 2020.

In a Facebook post, the MRT-3 said the increase in the number of passengers may have been the result of its “Libreng Sakay (free ride)” program and its increased maximum passenger capacity through the addition of two four-car Czech CKD trains and one Chinese Dalian train, aside from 18 three-car CKD trains regularly in operation.

Each four-car train, it said, is capable of carrying up to 1,576 passengers, an increase of 394 passenger capacity from its three-car trains.

On average, it said 18 to 21 trains are running at the MRT-3 at any given time.

After the completion of the MRT-3’s rehabilitation, its trains are now running at a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour—reducing the time between trains to 3.5 to 4 minutes from the previous 8.5 to 9 minutes.

The MRT-3’s free ride program–meant to celebrate the completion of the MRT-3’s rehabilitation and ease the burden of rising fuel prices on the public–began on Monday and will end on April 30.

All passengers are eligible to receive the free service during all operating hours of the MRT-3.

In May 2020, right before the public transportation shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, an average of 250,000 to 300,000 passengers take a ride at the MRT-3. (PNA)