Purple Line LRV testing in Elmira NY Image by BeyondDC licensed under Creative Commons.

The Purple Line light rail has been a long-anticipated addition to the Maryland public transit system. The 16-mile light rail will connect Montgomery County and Prince George’s County with stops stretching from Bethesda to New Carrollton.

Construction of the Purple Line stopped however in the fall of 2020 as the companies hired to build the light rail quit the project due to disputes with Maryland over about $800 million in unpaid overrun fees. This pause in construction came roughly three years after the project broke ground in August 2017.

So what exactly happened, and how likely is it the project will resume?

The history of the Purple Line

A map of the proposed Purple Line and its connection point to Metro. Image from MDOT MTA

Neighboring Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland share a connection to one another with residents moving between counties for work, shopping, and other activities. Public transit between the counties, however, is limited. To go between the counties on the Metro, for example, riders have to transfer train lines in DC.

Once completed, the Purple Line would help alleviate this problem by running a 16-mile route between Bethesda and New Carrollton. The light rail will have 21 stops and connect to four Metro stations in Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton, strengthening multimodal transit between the counties.

The idea for the Purple Line was initially born in the 1980s when Montgomery County purchased seven miles of the Georgetown Branch freight rail to become a transit way. The name Purple Line wasn’t used until the early 2000s when there was a debate over an “Inner Purple Line” – a proposed transit corridor from Bethesda to New Carrollton - and an “Outer Purple Line” – a proposed transit corridor connecting North Bethesda, Grosvenor, Wheaton and White Oak.

The name “Purple Line” was formally applied to the “Inner Purple Line” route in 2002 when the State Highway Administration and the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) identified the Bethesda to New Carrollton route as a priority transit corridor in order to aid Beltway congestion. This was still far from a declaration of beginning the project.

The Maryland legislature, transportation authorities, and politicians spent years researching and debating what form of transportation the Purple Line should take. In 2009, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley came out in favor of the use of a light rail for the new transit project. After that announcement, the conversation of funding the Purple Line project took control.

The Purple Line is ultimately being constructed and managed through a public-private partnership. The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Authority (MDOT MTA) owns the Purple Line, but the Concessionaire for the project, Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) is responsible for designing, building, operating, and managing the light rail for 30 years after completion.

Other development tied to the Purple Line

While the main focus of the Purple Line project is the light rail, the $5.6 billion investment being made into the transit infrastructure is bound to impact the development of the surrounding areas. Communities along the Purple Line corridor have already been impacted as homes and businesses have been removed to make way for the light rail, and four years of construction has caused road closures, torn up parking lots, and changed neighborhoods overall.

As the Purple Line is built, prospects for future residential and commercial developments are promising and concerning to local residents. The investment into public transportation will allow easier movement along the corridor, decrease traffic congestion, and create jobs in surrounding neighborhoods.

However, some residents fear the threat of displacement, as the value of residential and commercial properties in the area increases.

Community organizations such as the Purple Line Corridor Coalition (PLCC) have committed to researching and advocating for equitable community growth as the Purple Line project progresses. The organization formed a Community Development Agreement promoting multi-sector economic and community development in order to create opportunity for all along the Purple Line corridor.

To contribute to multimodal transportation and community growth, MDOT MTA is taking on the completion of three hiking and biking trails in the region - Capital Crescent Trail, Silver Spring Green Trail, and University of Maryland Campus Bike Path. Another community group, Purple Line NOW!, works with local, state, and federal government officials to ensure the completion of the light rail, while also advocating for the finalization of an integrated hiker/biker trail along the corridor.

Construction stop and go

Purple Line construction at the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Image by Farragutful licensed under Creative Commons.

Right as the Purple Line project was getting off the ground in 2016, a lawsuit was brought forward by opponents of the project. In the ruling of the lawsuit, announced in August 2016, US District Court judge Richard Leon ordered a new forecast on the light rail’s ridership to account for the decreasing ridership on Metro trains. After Leon ordered this new report, the Maryland Department of Transportation appealed the decision which halted all construction. 11 months later, a three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals allowed for construction to continue, and the project broke ground in August 2017.

Construction was officially underway, but there was still a rocky road ahead. Overrun fees started adding up, delays kept occuring with the projected end date getting pushed back further and further. In May 2020, the partnership of construction firms wrote a letter saying they would stop work on the Purple Line because MTA would not pay added construction costs. After failed negotiations and lawsuits, the construction firms quit construction and walked off the job in September 2020.

According to Ray Feldmann, a spokesperson for the Purple Line, PLTP is expected to finalize its decision for the new design-builder later this year. Meanwhile, some work has continued under the management oversight of MDOT MTA, mainly consisting of underground and overhead utility relocation that is necessary for the new design-builder to resume full construction activities.

For now, however, the project remains in limbo and temporarily abandoned construction sites are still scattered along the 16-mile light rail route.

Correction: Some construction work has continued on the Purple Line project since September 2020. The article incorrectly stated that all construction was halted. The piece has been updated to reflect that change.