HART launches rigorous rail system trial-run phase

The first day of trial runs for the city’s rail project saw the first train leave 10 minutes late on Monday. The next day, another left five minutes late — but neither delay gave rise to critical safety issues, rail officials told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday.

Five trains and nine stations will undergo testing through mid-January, with some rigorous tests slated to be conducted on 24/7 schedules.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation said the trial runs are expected to pinpoint operational problems so they can be addressed before passenger service begins early next year. Lori Kahikina, HART’s CEO and executive director, stressed that “safety is the priority.”

If all goes well, HART will turn the system over to the city, which will review the data before beginning passenger service. The city’s Department of Transportation Services, which will operate the system, the state Department of Transportation, contractor Hitachi Rail Honolulu and others are all monitoring the testing, Kahikina said.

Previously, Kahikina has said that the system would undergo 90 days of error-­free running — and if it fell short, a new 90-day period would begin. But on Tuesday she clarified that plan, stating that the system will be evaluated on 66 different scenarios, with many nuances, and will have to secure an average success rate of 98.5% over 30 days.

Addressing the challenges ahead, Rick Keene, HART’s deputy executive director, said, “Nobody here is expecting it to get done in 90 days.” Of the testing, which includes mock scenarios and will measure how employees interact with the nation’s first fully automated rail system, including emergency situations and more ordinary measurements such as stopping distances, Keene said, “Any of those can go wrong.”

The first train that was supposed to take off at 5 a.m. Monday did not leave until 5:10 a.m. because a station was not ready, Kahikina said. Another train left five minutes late Tuesday because unspecified maintenance, which had not been performed during overnight hours, had to be done, she said.

“We’ve been in construction mode for years and now we’re flipping the switch to operations to work the bugs out,” Kahikina said.

Regarding construction concerns, structural engineers will review the severity of cracks discovered in station supports and are expected to deliver an update in late September, Kahikina said.

In response to the expectation that testing will likely take longer than 90 days, City Council member Augie Tulba chuckled and said, “I’m not a critic of the rail. I just want transparency on the funding and the cracks on the towers and whether the FTA (Federal Transit Administration) has approved the recovery plan.”

The original vision for the cash-strapped transit project was construction of a 20.2-mile, 21-station route from east Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. In March, Mayor Rick Blan­giardi announced a new, truncated 18.75-mile, 19-station route costing $9.8 billion to build: $9.1 billion in construction costs, plus an additional $650 million in financing. If approved by the FTA, the new plan will end rail construction at Halekauwila and South streets.

HART submitted its updated financial plan to the FTA in June and is talking regularly with federal officials on some of the financing details but has not heard any major concerns, Keene and Kahikina said.

While construction continues to end rail at South Street in Kakaako, Blangiardi told the Star-Advertiser, “Now we’re in a mode of doing training runs. It is a sense of real momentum because now we have a phase of it ready to be fully operational. In the next several months … we’ll actually have the long-awaited project becoming functional. … What we have here is a sense of momentum turning into a real reality.”

Once DTS begins passenger service, Blangiardi predicted that rail customers will be “pleasantly surprised” by the transportation option. Blangiardi has ridden in the train cars, which he called surprisingly comfortable. Further, he said passengers will likely be impressed by the system’s elevated guideway’s view plains.

“It makes the ride interesting to me, plus you don’t have to face the car in front of you,” Blangiardi said. “From a rider’s perspective, it creates a very different experience.”

HART issued a statement Tuesday advising that while the trial runs are underway motorists should take care to focus on safe driving near the guideway. “Look ahead not overhead. Do not watch the trains or photograph the trains while driving, keep your attention on the road,” the statement said. Additionally, HART warned against trespassing at rail stations and along the rail line, which includes a “third rail” that carries over 750 volts of electricity. “The public should avoid the rail tracks at all times,” HART said.