The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a $900 million federal grant agreement for the 16.2-mile Maryland Purple Line Light Rail project.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao made the announcement during a ceremony to commit the funds with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and other representatives and local officials.
The Purple Line will connect major activity centers in Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma-Langley Park, College Park, and New Carrollton to Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) rail lines, three Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) rail lines, and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line. It will remain operationally and physically separate from Metrorail and MARC. The project includes construction of 21 stations, 2 vehicle and maintenance storage yards with shop facilities and the procurement of 25 articulated light-rail vehicles.
In addition to these latest funds, last June Purple Line Transit Partners, LLC was awarded a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan of $874.6 million for construction of the Maryland Purple Line.
In March 2016, Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) officials signed the $5.6 billion P3 contract with Purple Line Transit Partners to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the light rail system. MDOT will be the owner of the project and its selected private partner, Purple Line Transit Partners, will implement the project on a design-build-finance-operate-maintain basis.
“The Purple Line is a great example of what can be achieved when federal, state and private partners work together,” said Secretary Chao. “Combining U.S. Department of Transportation resources with private funds, this project is well on its way to transforming public transit in urban Maryland.”
“The Maryland Purple Line project is an excellent example of leveraging a transit project through a public-private partnership,” continued Secretary Chao. “P3s hold great potential for revitalizing our infrastructure and demonstrate how communities’ projects can benefit through access to additional funding resources which can accelerate project delivery and provide greater innovation.”