Officials tout arrival of 2 rail cars, with 2 more due Monday
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
The first shipment of rail cars for the Honolulu rapid transit system arrived at Pier 1 on Thursday. The driverless rail cars are fully automated and hold up to 200 passengers each. It will be the first fully automated metro transit system in the nation.
Honolulu’s first two rail cars have landed on Oahu — covered in shrink wrap, resting on trailers and poised to help form a transit system that local leaders are betting on to change how commuters eventually get around the island’s crowded South Shore.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell joined top rail officials at Honolulu Harbor’s Pier 1 on Thursday to tout the arrival earlier that morning of the cars, valued at $2.2 million each and designed to operate as long as 40 years.
“While we have bumps down the road, 20 years from now, 50 years from now, we’re going to ride this system and get on these cars and not even think twice about it.”
Kirk Caldwell
Honolulu mayor
“This is the way we’re going to travel in the future,” Caldwell said at a news conference held in front of the two rail cars and next to the towering hull of Pasha Hawaii’s Jean Anne shipping vessel, which brought the cars from San Diego.
“While we have bumps down the road, 20 years from now, 50 years from now, we’re going to ride this system and get on these cars and not even think twice about it. It’s going to be part of life here in the urban core,” he added.
The elevated rail system taking shape from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center will have 20 trains, and each train will consist of four rail cars. One end car and one middle car arrived Thursday. The trains will be capable of carrying 800 passengers, which officials said will be the same as 20 full public buses.
Officials say the trains will form the first major driverless rail transit system for any U.S. city. “They’re not arriving in New York or Boston or San Francisco. They’re arriving here in Honolulu,” Caldwell boasted Thursday.
The island’s rail cars will also be the nation’s first to feature an “open gangway” design that allows passengers to move between all four cars in the train to search for open seats, Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Executive Director Dan Grabauskas said. They’ll also feature free Wi-Fi service, call boxes and closed-circuit TV for security, officials said.
The additional two cars to complete Honolulu rail’s first train are slated to arrive Monday, and then crews will move them next week to the rail operations center in Pearl City, according to Pasha officials. Rail crews will then test the cars and install decals and other components.
The cars are being assembled at a Hitachi factory in Pittsburg, Calif. They’re being shipped out of San Diego and Los Angeles instead of Oakland, which is closer to the plant, because the enclosed ships that handle rolling stock and could accommodate them only run between Hawaii and th ose Southern California cities, according to Pasha General Manager Reggie Maldonado.
Marco Maraschin, a general manager with Baggio International Shipping, the freight company that’s handling transport, declined to disclose how much more it cost to truck the rail cars to Southern California. “Of course, the cost is more expensive,” but the company wants to ensure safe delivery, Maraschin said. HART spokesman Bill Brennan said the costs were covered by Ansaldo Honolulu JV under the firm’s $1.4 billion contract with the city.
Since 2014, Honolulu’s rail project has seen its price tag rise from $5.26 billion to an estimated $6.56 billion and final completion pushed back about two years.
The first rail cars arrived about two months after the City Council and Caldwell approved Bill 23, which extends Oahu’s 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge funding the project another five years to cover the growing construction costs. Those approvals came after Caldwell and other rail officials spent a year lobbying to secure the additional funds.
Despite the financial woes to get the full project done, HART has regularly touted construction progress — or any new step that moves the project forward. Last fall, as the Council prepared to take up Bill 23, HART and Caldwell held a tour of the nearly finished building housing the rail operations center next to Leeward Community College.
This week, in addition to the cars’ arrival, HART touted its crews’ finishing the elevated rail guideway along Farrington Highway. Next week the agency will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for stations in West Oahu, where political leaders such as U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono are slated to speak.
The cars that will make rail’s second train are due to arrive in the fall, project officials said Thursday.
91 responses to “Officials tout arrival of 2 rail cars, with 2 more due Monday”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
so exciting!!!
SO STUPID!!! They say the Waipahu stations wont be ready until LATE 2018 so why on earth bring them in in March 2016
That means they will sit for at least 3-10 years. Just what Hawaii needs is a RUSTING SCREECHING RAIL SYSTEM THAT ALMOST GOES TO KAPOLEI AND WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET PAST THE STADIUM UNTIL 2021. How many will actually use the system if it goes from an empty field in almost Kapolei to the most expensive mall in the island and comes out short from making Waikiki and very very short from UH Manoa STEEL ON STEEL IS THE LOUDEST METHOD OF CHOO CHOO TRAVEL AVAILABLE TODAY, THE ABSOLUTE LOUDEST. Our mayor has thrown us under the train witht he help of a tarnished City Council— shame on our City officials who have all accepted big money from RAIL CONTRACTORS Read this and tell me its not bribery:
I also revised the material to reflect recent discoveries. We found that the nefarious Pacific Resource Partnership supported Carol Fukunaga with $86,000 in advertising for her 2012 election. AND under a different name, they gave Brandon Elefante $105,000 in advertising support. With this money, the percentage of Elefante’s support from the Ho’opili and Rail construction community jumped to 91%. Pretty amazing! He sure wasn’t going to vote against them!
The Friends of Makakilo breakdown on City Council campaign contributions:
Council Member Total Contributions Amount from Hoopili/Rail Interests Percent
Kymberly Pine $160,879 $116,801 72%
Ernie Martin $451,240 $268,017 59%
Ikaika Anderson $139,518 $100,668 72%
Trevor Ozawa $183,320 $104,550 57%
Ann Kobayashi $57,136 $24,450 43%
Carol Fukunaga $258,321 $104,565 40%
Joey Manahan $182,215 $83,512 46%
Brandon Elefante $37,322 $24,292 65%
Ron Menor $48,405 $34,650 72%
As soon as they can get those cars on tracks you will see them moving.
Yes, great news for the homeless who can use these as temporary shelters for the next 10 years or so, until the rail is ready to begin operation.
Why would homeless cram into a rail car when they have all of beautiful outdoors to enjoy? Only the head that’s “homeless” of any grey matter who put out such carp!
They’re homeless. They might not necessarily want to be shelter less. These rail cars will be fine shelters for the next 20 years
“Quiet” steel wheels?
Hawaii Struggles to Keep Rail Project From Becoming a Boondoggle: GOOGLE IT read the New York times story on the BOONDOGGLE RAIL pretty much sums it up on its way to 10 BILLION DOLLARS AND NOBODY WILL USE IT UNLESS FORCED BY BUS ROUTE CUTS
lies
I google things every day and I believe “every one of the things I read”. It MUST be true since it’s in Google search!
I googled your handle and it’s under “not too bright”, so it must be true.
Just like Chicago.
“They’re not arriving in New York or Boston or San Francisco. They’re arriving here in Honolulu,” Caldwell boasted Thursday.
I haven’t seen a politician this excited about new technology that no other city is smart enough to use since the amazing “rust-proof” steel of Aloha Stadium.
Funny how we are using a system and a company that none of these other cities want to touch with a ten foot pole.
No driver, no HART personnel on the train. What happens when it gets “stuck”, for whatever reason, high in the sky? Who’s going to direct the people and tell them what to do? So many “what if” scenarios.
There will be an attendant on each train.
Where did you get that from?
Copenhagen, for one, is using the same driverless Ansaldo system. It’s worked great. Elevated light metro systems, like ours, are nothing new and are used all over the world. Get a clue.
Yes, and if this were Copenhagen–we’d all be HIGH and Sexually indulged… And, how do you explain to Tourists, et al–why this monstrous blight on the landscape is obscuring those views formerly depicted in calendars and postcards? (have you ever tried some “critical-thinking”, or are you just blinded by The Darkness?)
I’ll be there in a few months and try it out and ask the locals what they think.
It’s the frosting on the cake – high technology in our mass transit system.
It is going to be years before the RAIL GUIDEWAYS and STATIONS ARE READY SO why on Earth would they bring the cars in this early???? the Waipahu Transit Station is scheduled for completion in late 2018 and that’s if everything goes perfect according to NAN INC who is the contractor building that section.
Soooooooo what rocket scientist coordinated this fiasco??
Overpriced, unsubsidized pre school for allegedly needy kids!!
Mufi’s folly rolls on…
awaiting moderation for what????SO STUPID!!! They say the Waipahu stations wont be ready until LATE 2018 so why on earth bring them in in March 2016 That means they will sit for at least 3-10 years. Just what Hawaii needs is a RUSTING SCREECHING RAIL SYSTEM THAT ALMOST GOES TO KAPOLEI AND WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET PAST THE STADIUM UNTIL 2021. How many will actually use the system if it goes from an empty field in almost Kapolei to the most expensive mall in the island and comes out short from making Waikiki and very very short from UH Manoa STEEL ON STEEL IS THE LOUDEST METHOD OF CHOO CHOO TRAVEL AVAILABLE TODAY, THE ABSOLUTE LOUDEST. Our mayor has thrown us under the train witht he help of a tarnished City Council— shame on our City officials who have all accepted big money from RAIL CONTRACTORS Read this and tell me its not bribery
“Mufioso’s” Off-Shore-Retirement-Foundations”” (and, Carlisle, and Abercrombie, and Caldwell–followed by “a cast of hundreds”, yet to be credited..)
Wow, really the rail cars are actually arriving. I agree this is the most exciting event to take place since the building of Aloha Stadium that replaced the Termite Palace(Old HonoluluStadium)
Where do recommend the rest of us obtain those “Hallucinogen’s” you’ve been taking?
“YOU”
Indeed Honolulu will jump to greater livability with rail.
Baloney
pastrami
Exciting, right? Two rail cars have arrived to sit in storage for AT LEAST ten years. Wow people in this city are easily entertained and amused. The sun must make for more simpletons.
Doesn’t anyone think it’s a bit early to take delivery when rail will not be completed for another 3-4 years? The cars will need to be updated by then at an additional cost to us. This is like buying a 2016 car knowing you don’t need it until 2020.
I think they want the little people to get excited about the new arrivals, to have boundless optimism for our bright future, and to forget how poor we already are. Maybe they’ll let schoolkids visit and go inside a car filled with gas that turns them into mindless zombies who’ll ride the rail and bow to our great leaders. Or it could just be their way of saying “Too late to turn back. They’re heeeeeeeeere!”
They need to test rail sections with train cars, testing that needs to occur well before the rail system opens to the public. It’s not that difficult to comprehend.
The “rail cars” will be used as “Diners”–much like the “50’s”; and certainly a more profitable use at that… This is all a “Prom-piece” to placate the fardels…
It’s a “rail car”, do you really need to be made aware of the differences from a street car?
I suggest that chairs are eliminated for all future HART meetings until the board installs seats on these rail cars.
There are 96 seats on each car.
not true! from what I understand the number of seats in a redesign is raise to 21 from only 16 seats that leaves 79 standing for the 20 mile ride. of course with no one riding the rail, everyone on it might have a seat
Blue boy never lets the facts get in the way of a story, and the whole idiotic rail plan is quite the story.
Star Advertiser,
I’d like to suggest an idea for an article. I think you should gather 200 people and see how they fit into that rail car, take pictures and interview the people who participate.
Since every other claim from HART and our rail lovin’ politians has turned out to be wrong, it’d be nice if someone verified he car capacity, since that is what the ridership projections are based on.
Did they actually even let you see the cars or just admire the shrink wrap? Because there could be anything in there from bales of straw to old cans of paint.
The city was unable to even select good rail cars. They ended up choosing cars that seat people like the bus. Not enough capacity to move the numbers of people they have projected.
I bet if the cars actually are good, HART will let people visit as a PR promo. If they keep the cars wrapped up for the next few years, it’ll be like how they kept the last Indiana Jones movie a secret. That means no pre-screening, which would have allowed critics to pan it before opening night. Time to start worrying!
“Time to start worrying!” “Too Wittle too Wate”..
Honolulu will be a world class city with state of the art rail transit. Seeing the sleek trains streaking on the guideway will be a sight to see. Passengers will have beautiful ocean and mountain views while they are whisked to their destinations. We have an exciting future for our children and grandchildren.
Uku – Honolulu will never, ever, be a world class city as we have a track record of utterly incompetent elected bureaucrats, city and state agencies, endless taxpayer money pits. Not to mention the ever growing homeless population.
Rail is already 100% over budget, years behind schedule, getting worse in every area. No dedicated rail power supply yet and no settlement on the debacle to underground lines along rail’s city route.
Exactly why rail will end at the Middle Street Bus Terminal where busses will be ready to whisk passengers to the doorstep of where they work. In reverse when they leave work. Not having to underground the lines will save over a billion dollars.
Our children and grandchildren have a crushing financial burden paying for the every climbing $10 million per month/$333k per day of O&M costs. Added to the other excessive Nei costs of living and they have no choice but to move to the mainland for a far higher quality of life, far more enjoyable.
Just another day in the little 8th world of Hawaii Nei.
Baloney, Hawaii has fared mmeh better than the mainland because Democrats work for the people.
wiliki says: “Baloney, Hawaii has fared mmeh better than the mainland because Democrats work for the people.”
I guess that depends whether you consider insiders, pay-to-play contractors, and otherwise unemployable cousins “the people” or the folks seeking services or paying for this inside dealing and lack of accountability as “the people.” I think I know which one you choose.
wiliki – Where do I start?
– Ok, how about the multibillion and growing union pension debacle.
– The multibillion dollar infrastructure debacle.
– The black money hole our BOE/DOE/HSTA have become. Money goes in, nothing comes out.
– Over $300 million wasted on the Hawaii Health Connection.
– The fact Grabby & HART planned to basically use an extension cord to power rail on HECO’s grid until HECO put the Kibosh on another rail debacle.
– State employees caught watching HULU and Netflix on state computers on state time. Then no one was held responsible, no one was disciplined.
I could go on for hours, but you get the picture. Democrats or Republicans = Utterly incompetent elected bureaucrats.
We’ve come a long ways in the last 50 years. Us kupuna know.
You just downgraded Hawaii Nei to 8th from 7th.
ukuleleblue says: “Honolulu will be a world class city with state of the art rail transit. Seeing the sleek trains streaking on the guideway will be a sight to see.”
Streaking? If you are going to cheerlead for this mess of a rail project, don’t be so lazy cutting and pasting misleading nonsense.
The train will come to screeching halt 20 times in 20 miles on it’s way to the luxury mall as it avoids west side communities who were promised traffic relief.
It won’t be streaking anywhere.
Now, isn’t it time you finally confessed where it is that you live on the mainland and what your connection is to this mess of a rail project?
Steel on steel is not state of the art
Why not? State Of The Art is not based on any particular union of materials. Of course, being totally technically ignorant, you wouldn’t understand that.
keolu wants Japan’s pricey Shinkasen that can go 150MPH even though the train will never have the chance to reach that speed. News flash even Japan still builds steel on steel for it’s normal trains
Japan’s rail runs at a profit. Not like the tax eating monster the Oahu rail is. We could have built light rail instead of steel on steel. Cheaper and would probably be running already.
Rail will prove that Honolulu is not backward. When rail is finished, people will ride. Rail will be an awesome ride.
Yes indeed! A ride to PERDITION…
Looks like the people of Oahu have been takin for a ride by our government CAN YOU SPELL B O O N D O G G L E
go ahead an google it and read what the NEW YORK TIMES SAYS ABOUT OUR RAIL We are now the laughing stock of the nation
because of Caldwell, CARLYLE & Da MUFEE
Yes Dear Leader. We will worship rail and rail only. Rail or death!!
Uku – Actually the ongoing rail debacle is our equivalent of Boston’s Big Dig fiasco. 100% over budget and climbing, years behind schedule, list of failures is endless. The entire world has been laughing at the Nei’s HS Choo Choo as it steals the life blood out of taxpayers. Forever adding to the list of tax burdens they must bear.
Awesome ride? Really? Honestly the only “Ride” is the one taxpayers are being taken on by HART’s willful incompetence in every area. Lets not forget, Grabby and HART thought they could just plug rail into the HECO grid with an extension cord. Were they ever surprises when HECO told them no. Get your own power.
Our children and grandchildren will forever look back on the rail debacle and ask how their parents were so gullible to all the shibai, smoke and mirrors. Sad.
Without rail our children and grandchildren will have no future.
How many times are you going to lazily paste in the same condescending and out-of-touch comment?
Just because your children and grandchildren need a train from a developer’s new sprawl to a luxury mall to have a “future,” is no reason to rub everyone’s noses in your profiteering off this mess.
Most children and grandchildren will never ride thr rail regularly. These children and grandchildren however, will be paying for the rail forever.
wiliki willfully fails to understand how the massive taxpayer subsidies to fund the crushing cost of rail’s monthly O&M, currently underestimated at $10 million per month, about $323k per day will affect their lives.
This crushing rail cost along with all the other Nei money pits like union pensions, state infrastructure, education, will be the straw breaking the camel’s back for our children and grandchildren.
Asking how their parents could have been so naive to fall for the false siren song of rail. They will pack their bags and move to the mainland for a far higher quality of life with more to do, lower cost of living.
Kupunas don’t profit much from anything. We have a fixed income.
ukuleleblue says: “Rail will prove that Honolulu is not backward. When rail is finished, people will ride.”
Well, people will have to ride, because bus routes are being cut to force people onto this slow, seatless cattle car.
And everything about this project has proven how corrupt and backward our politicians are. From Mufi’s grandstanding, bullying, and lies, to Carlisle literally KISSING a pile of steel rails that still sitting and slowing rusting in Campbell Industrial Park, to this Kirk Caldwell “Building Rail On Time and On Budget” as costs skyrocket out of control and they continue to ignore the cost of electrical infrastructure and pretend their comically optimistic ridership projections are any less wrong than every other number they’ve pulled out.
And guys like you and wiliki continue to ignore the facts, failures and lies and cheerlead this corrupt mess.
Now, isn’t it time you finally confessed where it is that you live on the mainland and what your connection is to this mess of a rail project?
Facts show that the rail is back on schedule and funding is secure. It’s completely paid for.
Wiliki keeps on lying. HART will be back asking for more money soon enough.
If the rail is completely paid for, why did the GE increase need to be extended?
thank goodness that the shipping of these trains is covered by Ansaldo and their 1.4 billion$ contract. I am sure they added a huge amount to account for inflation of shipping cost in the future and are making only a small fortune on the inflated shipping costs that are built into the contract.
“Officials tout arrival of 2 rail cars,” yet Grabauskas stated that they now must be tested to ensure the air, lights, etc, are working. Only in Hawaii. Shouldn’t this be done prior to being released from the factory?
Both times. Factory tests outgoing products.
Hawaii does performance testing for acceptance.
So, will HART be loading these two (2) “rail-cars” on to flatbed 18 wheeler trucks; gathering the Mayor (El Hefe), the County/City Council freeloaders, and a cadre of Presstitutes–for an Easter Parade through The City, for the entertainment of all? Isn’t this much like “The Emperors New Clothes”?
Wish there was something about rail in Honolulu that I could get excited about. We’re not even close to the final cost of rail and our elected officials are already crying out loud that they need more state/city tax money. It reminds me of a “bottomless pit” where you throw good money after bad money with no end in sight.
you’ll get more excited if you move to the west side of the island and fight traffic everyday to Honolulu.
I’ll only be excited if they shut down the rail and put ukuleleblue in the unemployment line.
Security Cameras?? Big deal!!! There are supposedly “security cameras” in China Town and every single morning as I make my morning commute Diamond Head bound on King Street between A’ala Park and Bethel Street the sidewalks(as well as the street from overflow)is TRASHED!!! The garbage bags that the merchants put out on the side walk, for garbage pick(I’m assuming),are all torn up and all the garbage in them liters the sidewalks. Obviously the Krazies or the Homeless are scavenging for food(?) over night. So if there are security cameras in place, why isn’t HPD going out there and stopping the idiots from making the mess???? The Police Sub Station is right around the corner!!! Totally gross and sickening to see every morning. Kirk Caldwell needs to DO SOMETHING about that!!! Scrap the choo-choo to nowhere and focus on all the filth (human and non-human) that liter our streets and maybe help his crew sweep up the mess every morning!!! And fix the roads…….PLEASE!!!
Sorry—off topic, but I just had to say it.
Haven’t even set the fares yet that most people won’t pay anyway but we have the cars! Now we have an excuse to extend the GET to pay to look at them half full going by.
great news. Hope we see them on the tracks sometime this year. I’ll have to get my kupuna bus pass.
wiliki says: “great news. Hope we see them on the tracks sometime this year.”
You’re kidding, right? You and ukuleleblue really ought to familiarize yourself with the details of this project because otherwise, you just look and sound silly.
Testing needs to be done. So you don’t know about it? Us kwpmas know better.
“Your comment is awaiting moderation.” What does this mean?? SA reports to Uncle Kirk so my comment is unacceptable???
Just like a government operation. By the time the guideway, tracks and the rail stations are done the cars will be rusting and the warranty would have expired. Great.
Regarding: “Officials say the trains will form the first major driverless rail transit system for any U.S. city.”
The U.s. is so far behind the rest of the world. Vancouver-BC has their fully automated, driver-less Sky-Train.
In the rest of the industrialized countries… “chip” credit-cards are the only one accepted. Good luck if some U.S. tourist has the ancient magnetic-strip credit cards.
Did all the smoke clear from all the mortars and bazookas thrown back and forth?
Here it is FINALLY ! No turning back now BABY !!
Imagine yourself riding in luxurious comfort, air conditioning, no traffic snarls to contend with, drastic reduction in traffic on the freeways. A typical 1.5 hr commute will be 30 mins tops !
yobo says “Imagine yourself riding in luxurious comfort, air conditioning, no traffic snarls to contend with, drastic reduction in traffic on the freeways. A typical 1.5 hr commute will be 30 mins tops !”
Wow, every claim you make is dead wrong and you know it.
A slow seatless train that requires a bus ride at both ends and not even HART or their po.itically lackeys are pretending that rail will improve traffic any more.
If you can’t support this rail project without lying, then you can’t support this rail project.
Good idea, bring them on and repurpose to homeless shelters.
What a joke.