The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved a $1.7 billion loan to help get the beleaguered Purple Line get back on track, members of Maryland’s congressional delegation announced on Thursday.
The loan is a significant step toward completion of a restructured financing package made necessary by the departure of the project’s primary subcontractor 18 months ago.
Purple Line Transit Constructors (PLTC) quit the 16.2-mile light rail project in 2020 after a long battle with the Maryland Transit Administration over cost overruns. The agency recruited a newly formed consortium, Maryland Transit Solutions, to take PLTC’s place in January, and state leaders then approved a new contract to enable work on the New Carrollton-to-Bethesda line to fully resume in the coming weeks.
The loan announced Thursday is through the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and represents a major piece of the $9.3 billion project’s restructured financing.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bruce DePuyt over at Maryland Matters
