Final tracks laid for Purple Line as transit project inches toward 2027 opening

The Purple Line, the long-delayed light rail project that will connect Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, has taken another ceremonial step toward completion.

State, local and federal leaders joined Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday to mark the laying of the final segment of track for the roughly 16-mile public transit line. Officials hoisted purple sledgehammers and tapped them on purple railroad pins at the future 16th Street-Woodside Station in Silver Spring.

“You show me a community with easy access to transportation, and I’ll show you a community that’s ready to thrive,” said Moore, the third Maryland governor to touch the project.

Though passenger service is roughly a year and a half away, 16.2 continuous miles of steel track now snake over bridges, across suburban streets and through tunnels between Bethesda and New Carrollton. Completion of the track is a significant milestone for an overbudget and overdue mega project that once teetered on the edge of collapse.

“The Purple Line reminds us that, when we invest in shared infrastructure, we invest in each other,” said Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, who represents Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties. Speaking briefly in Spanish, Peña-Melnyk hailed the project as a benefit for the area’s Latino and immigrant communities, improving access to jobs and schools.

Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold said the project will reduce travel times, improve traffic by allowing more people to opt for public transit over personal vehicles, and create “vibrant, walkable and sustainable communities.”

Though planning for the Purple Line goes back decades, it was formally greenlit by the state and Federal Transit Administration as a light rail line in 2014. Then-Gov. Martin O’Malley helped kick-start it as a public-private partnership, a system that maintains state ownership of the rail system but leans on private companies to deliver and operate it.

Construction began in 2017 but faced delays due to litigation brought by disgruntled residents, cost overruns and the COVID pandemic. The original design-builder pulled out of the project in 2020, forcing the MTA to take over construction while finding a new builder, which came on in 2022 under the name Maryland Transit Solutions.

Change orders and cost overruns have long frustrated officials as delays have exasperated residents. Moore called the Purple Line a “boondoggle” in late 2024, borrowing former Gov. Larry Hogan’s famous description of Baltimore’s Red Line, which remains in the planning stages.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich congratulated Moore, his transportation department and Maryland Transit Solutions for being able to “inherit and resurrect” the project. He also hailed workers whom he said toiled through “hot, cold, wind and rain” to build it, prompting applause.

Construction has felt never-ending for many area residents, and shop owners along the alignment say their businesses have suffered amid parking losses, ripped-up sidewalks and nearly hidden storefronts.

The state launched a grant program to help small businesses located within a half-mile of construction, but some owners say they’ve been hit harder than what the grants can cover. Maryland announced another round of grants Thursday, bringing the total to $2.6 million across nearly 250 awards.

Crews continue to build some of the 21 future stations, along with the electrical power and communications systems that will make the trains run. That includes installing thousands of cameras and sensors that feed information to the train’s control center, nearby traffic lights and pedestrian signals.

Residents may have already seen trains running as the MTA tests them on segments of track. They began testing on the east side of the alignment last year, and trains will soon move through the University of Maryland campus and into Montgomery County.

When the Purple Line begins carrying passengers, projected now to be in December 2027, the project’s total cost, including the contract for its operations, will exceed $9 billion. The original 2016 agreement was for a $5.6 billion project that would begin service in 2022.

Banner photojournalist Jerry Jackson contributed to this report.