Here's an update about Rail in Honolulu:
Source: Honolulu Star Bulletin
$350M rail route would link airport
The mayor says state funds could pay for the route; state officials say that is unlikely
The city is proposing to add a 2.1-mile segment to the proposed rail transit system, pushing the overall price tag over $4 billion, according to Mayor Mufi Hannemann.
The spur would connect Ala Moana Center and Honolulu Airport and would be separate from the 20-mile route planned from Kapolei to Ala Moana Center that goes through Salt Lake and bypasses the airport.
The spur would cost about $350 million and complement the $3.7 billion main rail route, Hannemann said yesterday.
The city said the new segment could be paid for through the 10 percent the state withholds for collecting the 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge to fund mass transit, as well as the state Department of Transportation's airport fund. But state Transportation Director Brennon Morioka said use of the airport fund to fund rail transit is unlikely.
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Source: Honolulu Advertiser
The city plans to start construction of the elevated commuter rail late next year, with the first segment from East Kapolei to Leeward Community College opening in 2012. Later segments would extend the system to West Kapolei to Manoa and Waikiki.
Hannemann also said yesterday that a trolley-bus system could facilitate transportation between Waikiki and the train's Ala Moana Center terminus station until the Waikiki spur is built.
An aerial view of Honolulu International Airport shows the proposed rail station would be built near the new parking structure.
The Ala Moana Center rail plan shows the transit station, a trolley stop and the proposed link to Waikiki and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
