The Honolulu rail agency said the losing bid, at $900 million, received a “significantly lower” score.

It’s not clear, however, whether the project’s latest pier-cracking woes would force HART to repeat the trial running sometime later.

Rail officials tried to get this work done under a prior contract. They say this new deal will finally solve one of the project’s biggest obstacles.

Consultants and structural engineers are still assessing just how serious the cracking is in the piers that support several West Oahu stations.

City contractors have advised that no passengers be allowed on seven station platforms until they have a better grasp of the issue, rail officials said.

A  track consultant pressed HART officials for two years for the rail agency to make key changes that would make the system safer and more operable. They dismissed him in February.

It’s not clear why HART is moving ahead before confirming which environmental approvals are needed and how long they might take.

The rail agency hasn’t said who was responsible, but it assured they’re no longer working on the project.

Meanwhile, questions remain about the overpayments that were also made as part of the same widespread problems.

Ridership on the truncated line would be nearly 30% less than previous estimates, but the city would complete the system to South Street by 2031.