rail to open with 10 mile route

Local rail officials have decided that for the opening of the transit system, they won’t extend the route to Middle Street after all.

Instead, they’ve opted to stick with their planned, shorter opening route to Aloha Stadium — a distance of 10 miles. Last summer the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation announced it would revisit the logic of that opening route and the “limited ridership” it would attract.

But as project delays have piled up, the idea of waiting to start service until Middle Street comes online has become less practical. Opening to Aloha Stadium remains the better option, HART Executive Director Dan Grabauskas said last week.

The opening should now occur sometime in late 2018, HART projects.

Service along the entire 20-mile line, from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center, should now start in 2022, the rail agency estimates. The project is about two years behind schedule following lengthy delays from legal challenges, premature construction starts and other holdups.