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8/11/2023
The city of Honolulu will sell $257.1 million in general obligation bonds to help fund its 2024 capital improvement program and the ongoing construction of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s rail project.
Proceeds of the bonds are not designated to specific projects, including that of the rail line, such as the 5.2-mile segment from Aloha Stadium to Middle Street planned for completion by mid-2025, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported Aug. 8.
Instead, the bond proceeds would act as "bridge financing for the rail construction overall," said Andrew Kawano, the city’s budget and finance director.
Retail orders for the bonds were being taken this week.
On June 30, Honolulu's Skyline — the nation's first fully autonomous urban passenger-rail system — began passenger service. The first phase of Hawaii’s largest infrastructure project is an elevated rail line covering nearly 11 miles between nine stations from East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium.
Hitachi Rail manufactured the trains for Skyline; designed and constructed the subsystems; tested and commissioned the system for passenger safety; and will operate and maintain the system during passenger-service revenue.
Passenger service to additional stations farther along the elevated rail line, such as to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, will begin in two additional phases over the coming years.
The full line will connect 19 stations along a 19-mile corridor on the south shore of Oahu. The system is entirely electrically powered. The transit-rail service was delivered on behalf of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation and Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services; it marks the first new major transit-rail system to launch in the United States since 1993.