Capital MetroRail faces more delays

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) -- Capital Metro's commuter rail line, approved by local voters four years ago, will not start operation until next spring due to construction snags and the approval of federal waivers.

When voters approved the project in 2004, the anticipated start date was Spring 2008, according to Capital Metro spokeswoman Misty Whited. More recently, the start date for the 32-mile Red Line from Leander to downtown Austin was pushed back to this fall.

However, Capital Metro's Board of Directors heard on Wednesday about more delays and setbacks at its retreat. Based on the delays, the board set a March 30, 2009 date for the beginning of rail service.

Of the nine stations, seven will be ready to go in December. However, the Federal Railroad Administration has yet to approve Capital Metro's plan for running the rail service.

FRA has gone back and forth with Capital Metro on safety improvements concerning things such as the diesel tanks underneath the train.

Capital Metro Executive Vice President Doug Allen said the FRA snags have not pushed back the start date.

"The FRA issues didn't have much to the schedule at all," said Allen.  "We've gotten those all cleared.   It had more to do with getting some of the track work done that we had a little bit of an issue with."

Specifically, Capital Metro had to build a bridge over the Union Pacific Rail Line in North Austin and relocate two stations at Kramer and Howard lanes.

"The primary delay is that we moved one station three times, and we moved another station we relocated it twice," said Fred Gilliam, Capital Metro president and CEO.

Whited said the "astronomical" increase in steel prices along with bridges and a computerized control system pushed the project from $90 million approved by voters in 2004, to more than $100 million, around an 11 percent increase.

She said San Diego's similar sprinter car system will cost $447 million to build.

"The amount of money, a little over a $100 million, is a great value, a huge value," said Allen.

Capital Metro President Fred Gilliam also said to expect crowded trains on opening day, because the Transit Authority will only run five rail cars, with one spare, at 30-minute intervals.

"We'll face the consequences of it, because of the overcrowding that's going to occur," said Gilliam.