HART Releases A Lower Estimate To Build Rail As City Council Debates Funding … Current funding will get the rail line to Chinatown, but it needs to get at least to downtown to be functional, city leaders say.
Honolulu rail officials have trimmed their recent estimates for how much the island’s struggling rail transit project will cost and the expected cash shortfall.
Rail is now expected to cost nearly $11.4 billion to reach Ala Moana Center, project officials told City Council members on Wednesday. That’s in lieu of the $12.4 billion estimate they put forth in March.
Further, the city faces a nearly $2 billion budget shortfall to build the entire 20-mile line versus the previous estimate of $3.5 billion, according to Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Interim Director Lori Kahikina.
