The city’s rail project today received long-awaited federal approval to shorten its route by two stations and end the project in Kakaako, which makes the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation eligible for the remaining $744 million in federal funding.

The rail project had not received any federal funding since 2017.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi called the Federal Transit Administration’s decision “both a joyous and historic day for us” during a press conference in Honolulu Hale.

FTA officials had “lost credibility” in the project and were clear “we needed to have a show of unity,” Blangiardi said.

He praised and thanked the leadership of HART CEO and executive director Lori Kahikina and her team, especially compared to January 2021 when Kahikina came in.

“It was a very difficult time,” Blangiardi said.

With a $3.5 billion budget deficit and no plan to fill it, the city scrambled for a way to finish the project.

The original plan envisioned in 2012 was to build a 20-mile, 21-station route from East Kapolei to Ala Moana.

Instead the FTA agreed with HART’s new plan — which relies on a new city hotel room tax that — would require only 19 stations and 18.75 miles of track.

The FTA’s approval means that HART will receive $125 million in federal funding and an additional $250 million when HART awards a contract for the final stretch of track and station in Kakaako at the so-called Civic Center station, scheduled for 2024.