Light Rail Track is Finished

Officials say project is still on schedule, on budget.


The Phoenix area's light rail project has reached a milestone � all of the rail has now been laid. METRO Light Rail CEO Rick Simonetta said at a news conference to mark the event that we should now see orange barricades coming down at an even faster rate, and begin to see light-rail vehicles on test runs. He said the 20-mile initial segment, from uptown Phoenix to Mesa, is the longest light-rail initial segment in U.S. history.

Simonetta says public education will begin soon, teaching drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians how to behave around the trains. He said that education will include a component in elementary and high schools, since many school kids will use the trains and/or cross their paths on their way to and from school.

Simonetta adds that the 31 gaps in the rails, discovered during routine inspections a few months ago, have been repaired. Most of the cost was picked up by the contractor and other associated with the project, not by taxpayers. But he said the cost of repairs � around $600,000 � was much less than it could have been, and is well within the contingency fund.

The light rail system is scheduled to begin service on Dec. 27.