Feds Approve Honolulu Rail Recovery Plan, Will Release $125 Million 36 Mayor Rick Blangiardi called the development a “joyous and a historic day for us.”
The Federal Transit Administration has approved the Honolulu rail project’s recovery plan and will release $125 million of the $744 million it has withheld for years, city officials announced on Friday.
A second release of $250 million is contingent on the successful award of a contract for the city center guideway and stations, the FTA told HART CEO Lori Kahikina in a letter. That contract is expected to be awarded in 2024.
The decision came more than three months after the city submitted its latest plan to rescue the troubled rail project, proposing a shortened route that would trim the transit line to about 19 miles and eliminate its two easternmost stations. The truncated rail line would stop at Halekauwila and South Streets. The plan also temporarily defers the construction of a Pearl Highlands parking garage, which was meant to serve future central Oahu riders.
