Skip to main content

Honolulu says 'aloha' to light rail system

Passengers on Hawaiian island can now ride on 11-mile section with more to come
By Adam Hill July 5, 2023 Read time: 1 min
There are nine stations between Kualaka`i and Hālawa (image: Hart)

Honolulu in Hawaii has opened the first part of its new light rail system to passengers.

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (Hart) has delivered the initial - 11-mile - stretch of the Honolulu Rail Project to the City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services (DTS). 

It takes in nine stations between Kualaka`i in East Kapolei and Hālawa near Aloha Stadium.

Passenger services to additional stations further east are scheduled to be phased in "over the coming years".

Hart CEO Lori Kahikina called it a "landmark moment".

“All required operational and safety testing and related certifications have been completed and the system is safe and reliable, Kahikina says.

Hart has transferred the track and stations to DTS, along with 12 four-car trains and the 43-acre maintenance and storage facility.

Related Content

  • CPS calls for greater competition in UK rail competition
    December 21, 2016
    A report from the UK Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has called for greater on track competition on long distance rail routes. It says the UK’s transport authorities have been resistant to open access competition on passenger routes. Open access operators are train companies that run services over similar routes and are not subject to franchising agreements. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has reported that where open access operates in the UK, such as the East Coast Mainline, passen
  • Less travel aggravation to blunt Aggieland fans’ motivation
    June 17, 2016
    Returning travel times to normal within two hours of the end of a major football game was the challenge facing College Station, Adam Lyons explains how this was achieved. College Station, TX, also known as ‘Aggieland’, is located right in the middle of the Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston triangle making the city accessible to over 14 million Texans within less than a four-hour drive. One of the biggest draws to this area is Texas A&M University (TAMU) and the Aggie football games in the fall, mea
  • Activu and Mitsubishi give New Jersey controllers the big picture
    May 27, 2014
    Mitsubishi and Activu team up to help New Jersey emergency centre with real-time situational awareness. Sandy was the largest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history, with winds spanning an area of 1,100 miles and damages estimated at $68 billion. It killed at least 286 people in seven countries, from Jamaica to the Jersey Shore. But tropical storms are not the only challenge for emergency operations up and down the East Coast.
  • Siemens to build new streetcars for expanding Charlotte Area Transit System
    November 29, 2016
    The Charlotte City Council in the US has chosen Siemens to build six new S70 streetcars for the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), the public transit system operated across Mecklenburg County and four surrounding counties. The vehicles will be designed with advanced hybrid technology that features a battery storage system, which allows for operation in portions of Uptown without the need for power from an overhead wire. The new streetcars will add to the 42 Siemens-built light rail vehicles currently