BETHESDA, Md. — Work on Maryland’s long-delayed Purple Line light rail project should resume in earnest after Labor Day, WTOP radio reports.
Laborers’ International Union of North America has signed a collective bargaining agreement with Maryland Transit Solutions, the new contractor set to finish the line, with the union’s business manager, Steve Lanning, telling the station that preparation and inspection is now gearing up on the project. “After Labor Day is when you are really going to start seeing the workforce grow and a lot more construction activity,” he said.
As many as 250 members of the union had previously worked on the project, which has been shut down for about two years after the original contractor withdraw from the project over unpaid costs for delays [see “Digest: Judge rules builders can quit …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 11, 2020]. Maryland Transit Solutions was selected to complete the 16-mile, 21-station line late last year [see “New contractor selected …,” News Wire, Nov. 8, 2021].
The line between Bethesda and New Carrollton, which will provide connections to DC Metrorail at four locations as well as three MARC commuter rail lines, was originally scheduled to open in March 2022; latest estimates have it in operation sometime in 2026.
How about a new Camden Line station at College Park that’s larger than a postage stamp?