If there ever was a government entity in need of a shot of public confidence, it is HART — the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.

Since its inception in 2005, HART promised much, delivered hardly anything and cost more than expected.

Oahu taxpayers know it as the 20-mile rail line, first sold to the public as going to the University of Hawaii at Manoa and costing $3 billion. Now it’s planned to go to Ala Moana Center, popular with tourists and Hawaii’s teenagers, but not really a daily must-stop place for Honolulu’s workforce, at a cost of at least $9 billion, including interest.

Of much concern is that even though it was envisioned 14 years ago and Oahu taxpayers have been paying for it since 2007, the beast is not built. Not only is it not finished, HART hasn’t come up with a scheme for how to finish it. It has neither picked an entity to do the last 4.3 miles, nor specifically said how much it will cost.

That’s a big decision because whomever is picked to do the digging and shoveling and planning will be responsible for the toughest part of the route, including the congested Dillingham corridor, already packed with local businesses.

So just when HART was on the verge of making that big decision, the federal government came calling. Unfortunately for Honolulu, the feds were not bringing more much-needed cash — they were packing subpoenas, and scads of demands for documents and records.

The old joke is that it is always bad when the federal government says it has come to help, but this is even worse because it is the U.S. Justice Department at the door and it is not here to wish Honolulu a good day.

Already the federal prosecutors have launched three volleys of subpoenas. It appears the prosecutors and the FBI are interested in HART overpayments to property owners compensated for real estate taken along the rail route.

And, the last request was for records of all HART meetings, including the closed-door sessions.

HART’s most passionate critics have called for a forensic audit of the project that would specifically track down the causes of the cost overruns, but that now has been trumped by an actual FBI investigation.

The feds are interested because they have investments in the project and are expected to put in more. Buyer’s remorse backed up by the federal prosecutor’s office is a new and serious concern.

There has been repeated criticism that Honolulu’s rail project was neither on time nor on budget. There have been serious studies showing that the project will not be used by enough people to justify the costs. There have been continued complaints that rail was more about speeding development both in Leeward Oahu and already congested urban Honolulu, than hurrying commuters along.

Now the picture has changed: The focus is not urban planning nor questions of financial health; the question is criminal culpability and who will answer.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.