The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Saturday assured the public it has no plans to impose a fare increase in the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), even as it is poised to begin a total rehabilitation of the system.

"That is not even in the horizon for us at this point," DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said.

Batan reiterated the instruction of DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade to shelve any discussion on a fare hike and to let the commuting public experience significant improvements made, once completed, on the 18-year-old rail system.

The MRT-3 last increased its fares in January 2015 to an P11 base fare plus additional one peso per kilometer.

The 16.9-kilometer rail line that stretches from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City has an average of 350,000 commuters daily.

On Thursday, the governments of the Philippines and Japan, through the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), signed the P18-billion loan agreement for the MRT-3 Rehabilitation Project.

The project, which will run until 2022, covers the rehabilitation and maintenance of all sub-components of MRT-3, including its electromechanical systems, power supply, rail tracks, depot equipment, and a general overhaul of all its 72 18-year-old Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs). DMS