Maryland Purple Line delayed again

The Purple Line is a 16.2-mile (26.1km) light rail line being built as an orbital line in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC from Bethesda to New Carrollton, including interchanges with the DC Metro Red, Green and Orange lines. 

 

A consortium appointed to design, build and maintain the line in 2016 gave up its contract in September 2020 because of delays and financial disputes with the state government over USD 800M in change orders. A new contractor was signed up in April 2022 and construction resumed with the hope of completion in 2026. CAF has built 26 five-section 43m double-ended LRVs, but these are in store until the Purple Line depot becomes available. Body shells came from Spain with assembly in the CAF plant at Elmira in New York State, USA. 

 

In July 2023 a new agreement between Maryland DoT and the contractor Purple Line Transit partners has fixed the opening month of the 16-mile (25.5km) light rail line as May 2027, with Maryland providing an additional USD 148M to PLTP (USD 205M has already been paid over). The federal government is putting in USD 900M. The total cost of the project is expected to be USD 2bn, with the contracting consortium being paid back over 30 years. Work completion has reached 50% with 700 workers employed on the project.