ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s Board of Public Works has approved the $3.4 billion contract to complete the troubled Purple Line light rail project, allowing construction on the 16-mile line to resume this spring.
The Washington Post reports the $3.4 billion figure includes $1.1 billion in work that has already been completed, as well as the $1.46 billion added in the latest revision of the project’s costs [see “Maryland Purple light rail line will cost $1.4 billion more …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 13, 2022]. The project is now estimated to open in 2026, four years behind schedule.
The board also approved an additional $3.7 billion for a four-decade agreement with the private consortium managing the project. The total cost of that deal is now $9.3 billion, which reflects the higher construction and financing costs, as well as a $250 million legal settlement after the original contractor quit in 2020 because of a dispute over unpaid cost overruns.
Stupid question, but why isn’t the equipment compatible with WMATA? Aren’t the lines supposed to complement each other?
Didn’t we learn that lesson by the 1870s?
That’s why your contract includes language putting cost overruns on the builder or consortium…to give them incentive to keep things either under or within budget.
God bless Brightline.
$9.3 Billion for 16 miles, need a little oversight there?
That’s the service contract for the consortium to operate and maintain the line for the 40 years after completion of construction and the line opens.