Enthusiasm for the Purple Line remains high among elected leaders and project boosters, even as a dispute between the state and the light-rail line’s builders remains unsettled.
“I will reiterate, the state is fully committed to the completion of the Purple Line project,” said Vernon Hartsock, acting director of the Purple Line project for the Maryland Transit Administration, during a virtual meeting Thursday hosted by advocacy group Purple Line Now. “This is a commitment regardless of what transpires between P3 concessionaire and the MTA.”
Hartsock did not get into details of an ongoing lawsuit or settlement negotiations between the MTA and Purple Line Transit Partners, the consortium of companies that agreed to build and operate the project.
And attendees didn’t follow up with questions related to the spat that could result in the dissolution of the the public-private partnership. Hartsock was delivering the message in a fairly friendly environment, Ralph Bennett, president of Purple Line Now, said during the meeting.
