The project management consulting team for Maryland’s $2-billion Purple Line has been awarded an added $183.5 million to cover expanded project responsibilities while the state proceeds to select a new design-build contractor to complete the dispute-delayed light rail project through two suburban Washington, D.C., counties.

The contract modification, approved June 16 by Maryland’s three-member Board of Public Works, bolsters the budget for consultants AECOM, RK&K and WSP USA, which have overseen a much scaled-back construction effort since the original Fluor-led design-build group quit the half-finished project last summer in a dispute with the state over responsibility for approximately $800 million in cost overruns.

该州的私人联盟合作伙伴表示，将于6月份从三支球队中选择一个新的设计 - 建立团队入围in March, followed by a gradual restoration to full construction activity by year end. No update was provided at the June 16 meeting on whether the selection will be this month later in the summer.

The consulting team was originally contracted by the Maryland Transit Authority in 2010 to provide project management and quality assurance services during the initial stages of the 16-mile light-rail transit project. Design and construction oversight responsibilities were added as the Purple Line evolved into a public-private partnership backed by approximately $900 million in federal funding. Construction began in 2017 with a target completion date of 2022.

然而，MTA与氟于成本和延误所劣化的关系导致持续的法律纠纷，最终导致承包商的出发。18luck.cub去年11月，马里兰州与氟达到250万美元的融合，也涉及紫线过境合作伙伴的P3开发联盟的15％兴趣。

与此同时，项目管理团队代表MTA扩大了其监督作用，管理大约150名与承包商和供应商的合同，以继续在财团评估潜在的设计制造合作伙伴的同时继续效用迁移和滚动股票制作。

MTA的增加的项目管理资金要求指出，额外责任大致增加了团队的员工要求，使其现有的预算分配更快地超过预期。国家运输秘书Gregory Slater还告诉董事会，额外资金涵盖典型的工作，这些资金通常由设计制造团队进行，并将与新的设计 - 构建成本分开。

While the project management team’s contract has been extended to June 30, 2027, a revised construction schedule for the Purple Line will not be announced until the new contractor is in place.

MTA先前已表示希望加速施工技术等措施将减轻任何进一步的延误。

MTA also released images of Purple Line rail cars, with about 130 now being fabricated in Spain and assembled in Elmira, N.Y. A state project director, Vernon Hartsock, said the cars, at 140 ft, are “about the longest light rail vehicle” in North America.