Purple Line Negotiations

By Charlie Summers

Amidst deteriorating negotiations between the two parties, the Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP), the private firms responsible for the construction of Maryland’s Purple Line, filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) on Sept. 14, alleging that the state consistently breached its contract with the PLTP since the start of the public-private partnership in 2016.

The PLTP’s lawsuit is a counterclaim in response to the $75 million lawsuit that the MTA filed in early August, which sought redress for the firms’ notice that they would end construction due to unpaid cost overruns and excessive delays. The state’s complaint requested that the PLTP be restrained from abandoning the project until it formally established the existence of excessive delays through the processes laid out in their contract.

In its counterclaim, the PLTP alleges the state breached its contract by “failing and refusing to provide PLTP monetary and schedule relief.” The firms also accused the state of attempting to “mask the impact of delays” caused by lawsuits from third parties.

On Aug. 11, a Maryland judge issued a temporary restraining order on the PLTP that kept it from leaving the project, but this order has since expired.

Maricela Cordova, the Purple Line Implementation Manager in Montgomery County, recalls that the construction crews began demobilizing on Sept. 15, one day after the order’s expiration.

“Some of the staff have left, and some operations have slowed down, some others have stopped,” Cordova said. “PLTC, PLTP, and MTA are working on a plan to finish demobilization and MTA is putting together a transition plan, as far as we know.”

As to the question of how the state will proceed after the PLTP exits the project, Cordova noted that it has a few options: “They might procure a new concessionaire and design builder, or elect to manage the project themselves, or a combination of both.”

The Purple Line, a light-rail line that will stretch 16 miles from Bethesda to New Carrollton, was scheduled to be open and running by 2022, but the goal is unlikely to be met given delays and the anticipated loss of funding upon the PLTP’s exit.

Cordova, however, remains optimistic. “I believe that it has the political support to continue, the community is very excited about it as well,” she remarked. “We are looking forward to it being completed, to move forward, and to be in operation as soon as possible”