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The Honolulu City Council has approved a bill that would allow the city to issue up to $450 million in a short-term borrowing plan as a safeguard for the Honolulu Rail Transit project.

The safeguard is a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requirement to ensure the project’s completion, city officials said in a prepared statement.

The city council’s support will keep the rail project on track, said Dan Grabauskas, executive director and chief executive officer of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) in a prepared statement.

“This is great news for Honolulu and clears the way for us to secure $1.55 billion in federal funds,” he said. “With the strong support we have of our congressional delegation and from the FTA, we are confident we will receive the full amount in federal funds.”

Scheduled to open in 2019, the 20-mile elevated rail system will run from East Kapolei to Ala Moana.