Maryland’s already delayed and overbudget Purple Line light rail project will need more time and more cash to reach the finish line, according to the Maryland Transit Administration.
Citing the challenges of completing utility work in the “dense urban environment” of the project’s 16.3-mile corridor in the northern suburbs of Washington DC, “coupled with significant vehicular and pedestrian traffic,” the agency announce a 234-day delay that boosts the start of revenue. service until the winter of 2027, five years later than originally planned.
The extended utility work will also require the transit agency to provide up to $425 million in compensation to Purple Line Transit Partners, the private consortium overseeing the project under a design, build, operate and maintain concession of 40 years Payments will be made over five years after certain project milestones are met, such as the expected arrival of the first light rail vehicle in Maryland later this spring, major construction completed on the University’s campus of Maryland College Park and the reopening of a popular pedestrian drive. trail along the route and start of system tests.
The transit agency, which will submit its request for the schedule change and additional funding to the Maryland Board of Public Works in April, said the Purple Line is already 65 percent complete, with nearly of 17,000 linear feet of track underway and construction underway at 13 of 21 planned stations.
The cost to design and build the line has nearly doubled from its original estimate of $2 billion.
A joint venture led by the US subsidiaries of Dragados and OHL took over the project halfway through 2022, following the acrimonious departure of the original team led by Fluor more than a year earlier, a move which also cost the state $250 million to resolve. pending litigation. The transit agency oversaw a scaled-down construction effort until the consortium selected the new design and construction team and managed to close on a restructured financing plan.
Fitch Ratings recently reaffirmed its BBB rating on the Purple Line’s $1.9 billion financing structure, but with a negative outlook due to “complex construction works” that forced two changes to the schedule project in so many years. Noting the risks associated with rail projects in general and the long remaining construction duration, Fitch said its project outlook may improve over the next 12 to 24 months if it “addresses future delays in a swift manner that support the timely completion of the project and preserve the collaborative working relationship between all parties”.
