Maryland officials have approved a revamped deal that will complete the Purple Line light rail project by fall 2026. They voted 3-0 on a series of contracts that approved a new construction firm, modified the public-private partnership deal, and modified deals with subcontractors.

But the cost of the project is going up $3.4 billion as construction and financing costs have skyrocketed during the pandemic. It’ll now take $9.3 billion total to finance, design, construct, and operate the light rail line over 30 years. It’s among the largest public-private partnership in the country. The construction itself increased $1.4 billion, going from $2 billion to $3.4 billion. Officials attribute the increase to rising construction, material, and insurance costs and a smaller labor force.

The last construction firm quit over delays and cost overruns as a result of a lawsuit.

State officials including Gov. Larry Hogan (R) as well as Comptroller (and now gubernatorial candidate) Peter Franchot (D) blamed issues surrounding the Purple Line on an environmental lawsuit filed in 2017 that delayed construction.

“All of this started with this lawsuit that was done by people that didn’t want anything done,” Franchot said. “And it was highly unfortunate.”

“They tied us up in court for years,” Hogan lamented. “And it drove up all the costs of construction, the whole entire labor market change, the supply chain issues changed. So thank you (Franchot) for pointing out that it was primarily the people opposed to this project that has us in the situation that we’re in today.”

New Maryland Transportation Secretary Jim Ports notes it’s been a year-long process to get a new contractor. The new builder, Maryland Transit Solutions, is a joint venture of Dragados USA and OHL USA.

Matthew Pollack, who heads up the Purple Line project for the MTA, says construction would fully resume this spring. The state has been doing as much work as it could in the interim after the last contractor, Purple Line Transit Constructors, a group made up of Fluor, Lane Construction Co., and Traylor Bros., left the project in 2020.

Franchot joked with Ports that his first contract in front of the board was “quite a large request.”

“The Purple Line in a sense, despite the mind-boggling large amount, it’s a project that we all see is essential, very important,” Franchot said.

The 16.2-mile east-west transit line has 21 stations and will connect Maryland’s two most populous counties, Montgomery and Prince George’s. MTA Administrator Holly Arnold said the line would connect to four Metro stops, three MARC commuter rail stops, and to Amtrak. They expect the line to reduce traffic congestion and spur development.

Franchot asked officials what the fares would be to ride the line in 2026, but Arnold said it was too early to say, given that the opening is still four and a half years away.

She said the fares would likely be flat fares, not distance-based like Metrorail, and it will be similar to other fare costs.

“(We) don’t want to be out of out of touch with the other fares in the region,” Arnold said.

This story was updated to include how long private partners would operate the light rail line and how many stations it would connect to.