Maryland transportation chief expects Purple Line to open in 2022 despite âsome delaysâ
Pete K. Rahn
The Purple Line will begin carrying passengers in the Maryland suburbs later than expected because of a court fight over the project  but state officials believe it can still open in 2022   state Transportation Secretary Pete K. Rahn  said Thursday night.
The line had been scheduled to open to riders in March 2022.  Rahn  said the state and its contractor are still redoing the construction schedule  but  he  believes it can open âsometimeâ later that year.
âWe know there are going to be some delays â  Rahn  told the audience at a Silver Spring forum sponsored by the Purple Line Now advocacy group.
 He  said state officials should have a better sense of the timing â and any additional costs to the projectâs $2.4 billion construction costs â in a couple of months.  He  said  he  expects that project officials can make up some of the time lost during the one-year legal fight over the lineâs environmental impacts. A second lawsuit filed against the project is still pending in federal court  but judges have allowed construction to continue.
Early construction work has focused on cutting trees  particularly along the Georgetown Branch recreational trail between downtown Silver Spring and downtown Bethesda  and beginning to move utility lines.  He  said 75 percent of the design work is complete  and the state has acquired 88 percent of the right of way needed along the alignment.
The stateâs contractor  a team of companies called Purple Line Transit Partners  has about 375 people working on the project and will ramp up to about 1 500 people this year   he  said.
 Rahn  told the crowd the state has spent $200 million of the $325 million in federal aid that Congress has appropriated to the Purple Line. The state expects the rest of the total $900 million in federal grants to be doled out in annual appropriations of about $100 million to $125 million   he  said.
âWe are spending money quickly â  Rahn  said.
The state still expects the line to attract about 59 000 trips per day when it opens   he  said. That number is expected to grow to 74 000 daily trips by 2040.
âIf the service is as good as we think itâs going to be â  he  said  âIâm very confident in those numbers.â
The Purple Line will begin carrying passengers in the Maryland suburbs later than expected because of a court fight over the project  but state officials believe it can still open in 2022    [TGT] said Thursday night.
The line had been scheduled to open to riders in March 2022.   [TGT] said the state and  [TGT]  contractor are still redoing the construction schedule  but   [TGT]   believes it can open âsometimeâ later that year.
âWe know there are going to be some delays â   [TGT] told the audience at a Silver Spring forum sponsored by the Purple Line Now advocacy group.
  [TGT]   said state officials should have a better sense of the timing â and any additional costs to the projectâs $2.4 billion construction costs â in a couple of months.   [TGT]   said   [TGT]   expects that project officials can make up some of the time lost during the one-year legal fight over the lineâs environmental impacts. A second lawsuit filed against the project is still pending in federal court  but judges have allowed construction to continue.
Early construction work has focused on cutting trees  particularly along the Georgetown Branch recreational trail between downtown Silver Spring and downtown Bethesda  and beginning to move utility lines.  He  said 75 percent of the design work is complete  and the state has acquired 88 percent of the right of way needed along the alignment.
The stateâs contractor  a team of companies called Purple Line Transit Partners  has about 375 people working on the project and will ramp up to about 1 500 people this year   he  said.
 Rahn  told the crowd the state has spent $200 million of the $325 million in federal aid that Congress has appropriated to the Purple Line. The state expects the rest of the total $900 million in federal grants to be doled out in annual appropriations of about $100 million to $125 million   he  said.
âWe are spending money quickly â  Rahn  said.
The state still expects the line to attract about 59 000 trips per day when it opens   he  said. That number is expected to grow to 74 000 daily trips by 2040.
âIf the service is as good as we think itâs going to be â  he  said  âIâm very confident in those numbers.â