WASHINGTON — The Action Committee for Transit (ACT) will be in Annapolis Thursday morning to deliver an invitation to Gov. Larry Hogan to visit the Purple Line route.
ACT is a pro-transit organization in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties that has pushed lawmakers to get the project built and open in the next five years. The group is concerned after Hogan touted superfast maglev trains during a recent trip to Japan.
Hogan asked for $28 million in federal funding for such a train between Maryland and D.C. The total cost of the project is $10 billion, or the equivalent of three to four Purple Lines.
“When Gov. Hogan rode the maglev train, he said seeing is believing. That is absolutely true of the Purple Line,” says ACT Member Ronit Dancis.
“We’re really excited and hope that the governor will tour the Purple Line right here in Maryland to see how desperately we need this route,” she adds.
Hogan says he hasn’t visited the Purple Line route yet because no one has invited him to do so.
ACT will go to Annapolis on Thursday with an engraved invitation to do just that.
“We are certain that it will be built. The only question is whether it will be built by this governor or a future governor,” Dancis says.
Purple Line supporters remain confident that Gov. Hogan will give a green light to the project when he makes a final decision this month.
But sources tell WTOP that Hogan is more likely than not to either pull the plug on the light-rail project, or seek an alternative that is cheaper than the $2.5 billion price tag.
