Then-Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, left, and Sens. Daniel Akaka, center, and Daniel Inouye attended a ceremonial groundbreaking in Kapolei for the Honolulu rail project on Feb. 22, 2011.

A rail column stands tall as construction of the first segment of the Honolulu light rail project continued in 2014 despite early challenges from lawsuits and safety concerns.

Concrete columns tower above farmland that later was razed to make way in 2014 for rail and new housing being built in West Oahu.

The city expects to collect some $9.8 billion in total revenues to build rail, and it thinks that will get the line as far as Kakaako. It will have to find more funding to keep going.

Consultants for the FTA have kept tabs on Honolulu’s rail project, including as construction of the rail guideway snaked through Waipahu on Farrington Highway.

Public patience already was wearing thin as Honolulu officials urged the Legislature in 2015 to extend the state general excise tax and generate billions of additional dollars for the city rail project. Here, the rail guideway construction progresses near a cemetery in Aiea near Pearl Harbor in 2016.

Confetti flies as guests celebrate the arrival of the first train on island at the Rail Operations Center in May 2016.

A HART train decal on train Number 1 shows the final stop at Ala Moana Center in May 2016. Mayor Rick Blangiardi proposed last month that the future transit line be trimmed from 20 miles to 18.75 miles and that its two easternmost stations be eliminated.

An aerial view of the rail guideway as it snakes thru Kapolei near agriculture land in 2016. The area at the top of the photograph was the future site of the Hoopili community. Kualakai parkway runs center of the frame to the top of the H2 freeway.

Rail cars being tested on the elevated guideway above Farrington Highway by HART in May 2017.

A small scaled model of a HART rail car sits at a display at the Verge Conference held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in 2018.

Prefabricated sections of the rail guideway are stored along Kalaeloa Boulevard in 2019.

A rail worker stands at the Waipahu rail station during a 2019 tour of multiple stations along the train route.

Workers atop tall rail guideway columns near the Daniel K. Inouye Airport in 2019.

Rail guideway and columns being built near Ualena Street as rail heads toward downtown Honolulu in December 2020.

A driverless train undergoes testing along the guideway near Leeward Community College and the Rail Operations Center in 2021.

Ongoing construction of the rail station near the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

A rail pedestrian bridge being built over the eastern edge of Dillingham Boulevard last year as rail moved toward Honolulu’s urban core.

HART rail guideway construction rolls toward Middle Street and Dillingham Boulevard in 2021.

Rail Guideway columns being built near the Oahu Community Correctional Center along Dillingham Boulevard in 2022.