Not only will Honolulu’s rail transit system have a higher price tag — now at $8.1 billion — it’ll run five years late as well.

The Federal Transit Administration’s latest estimate is rail won’t be completed until December 2024, much later than the end of 2019, which was the original completion time in the city’s 2012 funding agreement with the federal agency.

The FTA’s completion timetable exceeds the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s updated schedule by two years. Local officials must figure out how to guide the transit project that’s slated to surpass its $6.8 billion budget by a billion dollars — give or take a few hundred millions — and running years behind schedule.

GOP’s Slom just keeps on ticking

When state Sen. Sam Slom fell visibly ill on the Senate floor last month, it was concerning on at least two fronts.

The first concern, of course, was for the 74-year-old Republican legislator’s health; the second was due to the fact that he’s the lone — and appreciated — voice of the loyal opposition in an otherwise all-Democratic Senate.

Now comes news that Slom’s recent coronary bypass surgery went well, with him making “better-than-expected progress in his recovery.” So much so, that the longtime lawmaker just filed his papers to seek re-election to the Senate District 9 seat, which he has held since 1996.

Whether or not his reelection is successful, it’s good to hear that the heart surgery was.