Confirmed Phoenix-Mesa Gilbert Rd extension opened today.

The Denver and Phoenix light rail extensions have been moved to complete. Each are ~2 miles.

Wow, this project snuck up on me. I didn't realize Mesa was that far ahead in the extension. I just read the azfamily.com article in cirrus' link that stated:

"The Valley Metro light rail system expands to 28 miles with 38 stations across Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa."

28 miles complete with more extensions still on the way? Or have they been placed on hold for a re-vote [x3]?

The elevation was due to weather, right-of-way, and costs, of course, but there's also a really important consideration in Hawaii - safety. The system does run on the ground (grade separated, obviously) in some places, for instance, by Leeward Community College.

The hulking look of the thing is down mostly to required over-engineering brought on by federal DOT standards.

I agree that HART doesn't have any real visual impact on an aesthetic level, as Honolulu is a highly ugly city at the ground level. The real visual impact is on the landscape, and I think that's an insignificant quibble, like complaining about power lines. Contract that with the massive increase in transportation mobility. The great fault of this line is: (1) that it wasn't extended to the east side from the very first, like with (possibly single track) spurs down onto Waikiki and up to the university; and (2) the delays that moved the construction timetable into overlap with a national labor shortage, with the result of massively pushed up costs. They missed two years of cheap labor that could have saved hundreds of millions and kept the project on track.

Anyway, people complain now, but I predict that when it's done, it'll be a beloved addition to the island that's heavily used, and about which people have that grim Hawaiian pride, like the H3. Guaranteed within six months of its opening at Ala Moana that the eastsiders organize to get an extension for the sake of 'tax fairness' or whatever.

HART's rail transit is being built for the future traffic demands, so it had to be grade separated because most of the streets in downtown Honolulu are fairly narrow for a city its' size. Costs are usually cheaper building rail lines above grade than below grade, but that's not the only reason why they chose to build up.

Tunneling in volcanic soils is not that difficult engineering, H3 tunnels through the Koolau Mountains on Oahu at an elevation over 1,300 feet above sea level to connect Honolulu with Kaneohe. H3's entire length is less than 16 miles. going from sea level to 1300 feet and back down again to sea level in less than 16 miles involves much climbing uphill and braking downhill. These mountains have volcanic igneous rock. So they have tunnels on Oahu before - the type of soil was not the problem.

The major problem with tunneling under Honolulu is mostly political. Native Hawaiians worried about disturbing undocumented historic human remains. The more dirt you disturb, the more likely you will dig someone or something up.
Everyone is or should be worried about costs and cost overruns for the transit project. Their taxes are paying for it, not the transit fares they will be collecting.

Kitchener-Waterloo Ion LRT line opened today, June 21st. Service runs from 5 am to midnight weekdays, 5:30 am to midnight on Saturdays, 6:30 am to midnight on Sundays. Service runs every 15 minutes except on weekdays from 7 am to 7 pm when service runs every 10 minutes.

The 2.4 mile Tacoma Link streetcar extension is under construction:

https://www.soundtransit.org/system-...link-extension

Congrats Ontario! ION moved to complete.

Also added Tacoma to the construction list.

Crazy that a place like Kitchener-Waterloo can get all-day 15-minute max headways while a lot of larger U.S cities can't even have light rail with that frequency.

Right? We're talking about a metro area the size of Harrisburg or Chattanooga. Imagine a US city that size building light rail today.

WELL depending on how busy things are it could happen. I mean, look at San Jose...

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. San Jose is part of a metropolis with 10 million people. Even if you insist on separating San Jose from the rest of the Bay Area, its MSA on its own has 2 million.

The Arrow line (commuter rail) in San Bernardino, CA broke ground yesterday.

The line will feature 30-minute peak service and 60-minute off-peak service. Additional Metrolink trains to/from Los Angeles will also operate along the route, only stopping at Downtown San Bernardino and Downtown Redlands.

According to Wikipedia, there will be 3 FLIRT DMUs and 1 FLIRT Electric Battery car for operations.

The 5-station, 9-mile line is expected to open in early 2022.

Total project costs are $355 million.

http://www.redlandsrailproject.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_(commuter_rail_line)
http://www.redlandsrailproject.org/groundbreaking/


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Preparatory works have started for Ottawa's Stage 2 LRT project. Construction has begun on re-aligning a highway for the eastern extension of Line 1.

https://www.stage2lrt.ca/news/sir-jo...hase-2-update/

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Lastly, remaining openings in 2019:

• Ottawa Line 1 (Confederation Line) (estimated September 2019)
• SMART Larkspur Extension (estimated "late 2019")
• BART Berryessa Extension (estimated December 2019)

The San Francisco MUNI Central Subway opening date has pushed back to next year, now estimated at Feb 2020, according to project reports.

https://sfist.com/2019/04/30/central...en-until-2020/

I think it is now safe to say that Phase 2 of the Ottawa O-Train network has started construction. This includes east and west extensions of the Confederation Line, a south extension of the Trillium Line and a spur to Ottawa airport. Phase 2 includes a total of 44 km of new track and 24 new stations. The Trillium Line extension including the airport spur is due for completion in 2022, while the Confederation east extension is due to open in 2024, and the west extension in 2025. Phase 1 has yet to start operation but is expected to open for revenue service in September.

Sorry for delay. Updated the main list to include Ottawa and San Bernardino, per the previous 2 posts.

I'm excited to see the streetcar construction between Santa Ana and Garden Grove. Orange County was long the epitome of post-WWII sunbelt suburban sprawl. Between this streetcar and Metrolink commuter rail, it is great to see people have more transit options for a county with more than three million residents.

For ottawa, might be better to split it up into 2, maybe even 3 different things. Since there's technically a South, East and a west extension. Each planning to open at a different time. South is 16km, East is 12 and west is 15. Though you could combine east and west since those are happening on the same line. South is the Trillium Line, and both East and West are for the Confederation Line,

Ottawa's Confederation line stage 1 is going to open ion the 14th of September.

Can the Finch West LRT in Toronto be added? It’s been under construction for a few months now. 11km, completion 2023.

http://www.metrolinx.com/images/grea...18-ENGLISH.JPG

Also, the Niagara GO extension should probably be removed. While track upgrades and expansion is still planned to be built, GO has started regular rush hour service and on weekends. I would qualify it as a major service expansion now, not an extension.