Norfolk's Tide Light Rail delayed again

[Tracktwentynine]

From the Virginian-Pilot:

The beleaguered light-rail line will not open in May as Hampton Roads Transit officials promised last year.
HRT president and CEO Philip Shucet said Thursday night he cannot commit to a new start-up date yet. The delay will not add to the $338 million cost, he added.

"The integrity of that cost-to-complete is a paramount priority," Shucet said.

The starter line has been besieged with setbacks since construction started in late 2007. The 7.4-mile system is $106 million over budget and at least 16 months behind schedule. The former president and CEO, Michael Townes, was forced to resign last January.

The latest challenge is the timely delivery of the electrical and safety components that allow the trains to avoid conflicts with cars and pedestrians on city streets.

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It's a shame the line is being further delayed. I hope these delays don't damage the system's ability (politically) to expand into other areas in the future.

 

[Anderson]

HRT has a bunch of issues...not the least of which is having to deal with too many municipalities. That said, and I've hit this drum before, but there is a line that runs straight from downtown Norfolk to about a mile and a half from the oceanfront (it's 1.3 miles from the convention center). Why these dolts didn't simply go for a compatible train system, stick overhead wires on the line, and take an easement on the line with eminent domain is beyond me...the line is close enough to Oceana that they could have worked out a train-and-bus connector with the military there (and probably cut the number of vehicles going into the base substantially). I know there are standard railroad-compatible light rail systems out there.

Now, I'm not sure what building the electrical components would cost, but I'll bet it would be a lot cheaper to do this, pay for two miles of track on one end and perhaps 1-2 miles on the other end, double-track some segments in the middle, and litigate out the cost of the easement than to build a new seven-mile line from scratch.

Edit: If the tracks are compatible, the line should get a "free extension" to Suffolk when the new train line goes in...there's talk of a commuter station going in near the I-64/I-664 junction. Of course, this goes back to my point about making sure the systems are compatible: If they have to build two lines out to Suffolk because the light rail trains can't use the normal tracks, then those people on the HRT board who lost their jobs over the overruns deserved it.