, will cost an extra $148 million
According to news report, the opening of the long-awaited Purple Line has been delayed yet again and is expected to open in spring 2027, state officials announced Friday. Originally slated to cost $5.6 billion, the half-done project will now cost an additional $148 million, bringing the total price tag to $9.4 billion.
Maryland’s Department of Transportation, Maryland Transit Administration and Purple Line Transit Partners will seek approval on Wednesday from the Board of Public Works for an extension of the contract deadline in the Purple Line Public-Private-Partnership agreement.
Originally scheduled to open in 2022, the 16.2-mile light-rail connecting Montgomery and Prince George’s counties has faced several hurdles throughout its construction. In 2016 a federal judge suspended an environmental approval that was later resolved by a lawsuit in the Purple Line’s favor. By then, construction was 11 months behind. Then in 2020 the design-build contractor dropped out of the project. For two years, Purple Line construction sites sat dormant until a new contactor was hired in 2022.