Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 49, 2012

The Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project (HHCTCP) is the official name for the plan to construct an elevated rapid transit line serving the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Plans for a mass transit line to connect Honolulu's urban center with outlying areas began in the 1960s, but funding was not approved until 2005. The controversy over the rail line was the dominant issue for local politics leading into the 2008 Honolulu elections, and culminated in a city charter amendment which left the final decision to the citizens of Oahu. The amendment passed with 53% of voters in favor. A ground-breaking ceremony to signal the beginning of construction was held on February 22, 2011. The project, as planned, will construct an elevated rapid transit line from the eastern edge of Kapolei, near the University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu campus, to Ala Moana Center. The line will pass through communities along southern Oahu, via Honolulu International Airport and downtown Honolulu. The plan also includes extensions west through Kapolei, and a link through Salt Lake. In addition, there will be extensions east to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus and Waikiki. The line will use 128 ft trains carrying about 390 passengers each, similar in size to light rail systems elsewhere in the United States (such as the MAX in Portland, Oregon and the Gold Line in Los Angeles) as opposed to larger trains typically found on heavy rail rapid transit systems like the New York City Subway or Bay Area Rapid Transit. Physically, the Honolulu system will have a good deal in common with light rapid transit systems such as SkyTrain in Vancouver, British Columbia or the Copenhagen Metro.