Hawaii U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono says Honolulu shouldn’t expect more money from the federal government to bail out its $12 billion transportation project.

The news that former Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa is taking a six-figure consultant job with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has a lot of folks suspecting the influence of politics on a project way over budget and way behind schedule.

It’s not clear how the FTA would respond to such a move. The mayor said he’ll bring it up with the agency during meetings this summer.

UPDATED: The 18-month contract comes after nearly half of HART’s staff was recently purged.

HART’s inability to relocate utilities along Dillingham is central to rail’s latest staggering cost spikes. Now, the agency says it finally has a “good plan.”

Hawaii’s senior senator says there’s little appetite in Washington to appropriate more federal funds for Honolulu’s troubled and overbudget rail.

The move aims to streamline HART, but some worry such severe cuts could hurt the struggling transit project in the long term.

Many sectors of the local economy have suffered layoffs and closures, but construction of the rail has carried on.

If Rip Van Winkle fell asleep in Honolulu in 2006 when the rail cost was $3 billion, imagine his reaction upon waking 15 years later.

The wheel rims are narrower than the track crossings, causing renewed headaches on what’s now a $12.4 billion transit project.