The private consortium managing Maryland’s Purple Line project has signed a $2.3 billion contract with a new construction team to complete the long-delayed light-rail line, according to the consortium and the Maryland Transit Administration.
The deal, which went into effect Thursday, adds $1.46 billion to the Purple Line’s construction costs, bringing the total to $3.4 billion. That’s almost 75 percent more than the $1.97 billion the state initially budgeted. About $1.1 billion of work was completed before the original contractor quit in fall 2020 after several years of cost disputes with the state.
Reaching “financial close” on the replacement construction contract means funding has been secured. It’s also significant because it allows major work on the stalled 16-mile project to resume, which project officials have said will occur starting this spring. Under the latest timeline, the rail line between Bethesda in Montgomery County and New Carrollton in Prince George’s County will begin carrying passengers in fall 2026 — more than four years behind schedule.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by John Domen over at WTOP
