Honolulu Rail Cost Overruns Now Exceed $1 Billion

Add another $200 million to the $910 million shortfall already facing Honolulu's rail project. The changing circumstances surrounding the project won't make it any easier to create a viable funding plan to make up the difference.

September 16, 2015, 1pm PDT | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell

Honolulu Authority of Rapid Transportation

Honolulu Rail Transit

"Honolulu’s rail transit project could now cost $200 million more to build — bringing its projected shortfall to more than $1 billion — and take about a year longer to complete," according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

The news comes via a letter sent by Don Horner, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation's new board chairman, and HART Executive Director Dan Grabauskas. The letter also shared the bad news of the projects delay—pushed back to 2021 instead of the first quarter of 2020. The article also lists other changes and challenges described by the letter.

The letter arrives, according to the article, "as the City Council considers its final vote on a five-year rail tax extension to help the project climb out of its current budget hole." The 800-pound gorilla in the room: "The letter makes clear that the Council still lacks a lot of the latest facts on the project, ahead of that vote later this year."

Full Story:

Honolulu rail shortfall now projected at over $1B

Published on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 in Honolulu Star-Advertiser