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Maryland Again Delays Purple Line Opening
March 05, 2024 Light Rail
Maryland Again Delays Purple Line Opening
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
MDOT MTA and Purple Line Transit Partners are facing further delays and seeking approval for a new opening date: winter 2027. (Photograph Courtesy of Holly Arnold, via Twitter, July 14, 2023)
The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) and Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) are seeking approval to push the long-delayed Purple Line’s launch date from spring 2027 to winter 2027.
The organizations on March 1 reported requesting Maryland Board of Public Works’ approval of a modification to their Purple Line Public-Private Partnership (P3) agreement that extends the contractual deadline for achieving revenue service availability to winter 2027. The 16.2-mile, 21-station light rail project, which broke ground in 2017, is slated to carry riders between Bethesda in Montgomery County and New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, and to provide direct connections to four branches of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system, all three MARC commuter rail lines in the Baltimore-Washington metro area, and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line; the project also includes completion of the Capital Crescent Trail. Originally anticipated to open in March 2022, the Purple Line was plagued with delays and cost overruns that led to litigation, which was resolved in November 2020.
“Due to the dense, urban environment of the project, coupled with significant vehicular and pedestrian traffic, the project has and continues to face challenging construction conditions,” MDOT MTA and PLTP reported. “Following the completion of project-related work being completed by the agency, the Maryland Transit Administration and Purple Line Transit Partners collaborated to reassess the project schedule and mitigate delays. Despite ongoing mitigation efforts by the project team, including rescheduling work to run concurrently and extending work hours, the delayed work impacted the remaining project schedule.”
{snip}
Maryland Again Delays Purple Line Opening
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
MDOT MTA and Purple Line Transit Partners are facing further delays and seeking approval for a new opening date: winter 2027. (Photograph Courtesy of Holly Arnold, via Twitter, July 14, 2023)
The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) and Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) are seeking approval to push the long-delayed Purple Line’s launch date from spring 2027 to winter 2027.
The organizations on March 1 reported requesting Maryland Board of Public Works’ approval of a modification to their Purple Line Public-Private Partnership (P3) agreement that extends the contractual deadline for achieving revenue service availability to winter 2027. The 16.2-mile, 21-station light rail project, which broke ground in 2017, is slated to carry riders between Bethesda in Montgomery County and New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, and to provide direct connections to four branches of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system, all three MARC commuter rail lines in the Baltimore-Washington metro area, and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line; the project also includes completion of the Capital Crescent Trail. Originally anticipated to open in March 2022, the Purple Line was plagued with delays and cost overruns that led to litigation, which was resolved in November 2020.
“Due to the dense, urban environment of the project, coupled with significant vehicular and pedestrian traffic, the project has and continues to face challenging construction conditions,” MDOT MTA and PLTP reported. “Following the completion of project-related work being completed by the agency, the Maryland Transit Administration and Purple Line Transit Partners collaborated to reassess the project schedule and mitigate delays. Despite ongoing mitigation efforts by the project team, including rescheduling work to run concurrently and extending work hours, the delayed work impacted the remaining project schedule.”
{snip}