The public will soon get a close look at renderings for the proposed Chinatown rail station, one of the final six planned stations along an overhead “guideway ” rail track that are expected to be cheaper to build and operate, look different and attract local subcontractors to do the work.
The Chinatown station, known as the Holau station, which will sit at the corner of River Street and Nimitz Highway, has tentatively been designed as Skyline’s only “cantilever ” station that will sit above the waterfront, offering a spectacular view from the station and Skyline trains, according to Lori Kahikina, CEO and executive director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.
HART and contractor Tutor Perini Corp. will hold the first of two “neighborhood design workshops ” on the Chinatown station at 6 p.m. June 26 at Princess Ruth Ke ‘elikolani Middle School. According to the, attendees will have a chance to engage with project representatives, ask questions and share feedback on the preliminary design of the Chinatown station.
Some residents are already pushing back on plans to eliminate escalators in all of the final six stations, including Chinatown’s, that are more costly to install and maintain, Kahikina said.
“We have to keep costs down, ” she said. “We have to get to Ala Moana.”
HART was able to open its first segment of nine stations and 11 miles of track from East Kapolei to Halawa in June 2023 by reducing the cost of rail construction after eliminating the final two originally planned stations in Kakaako and Ala Moana Center, Hawaii’s largest transit hub.
Now the entire route—with the approval of the Federal Transit Administration—calls for just 19 stations along an 18.9-mile corridor from East Kapolei to the future Civic Center station at Halekauwila and South streets in Kakaako.
But Kahikina and Mayor Rick Blangiardi still want to get to Ala Moana, and Blangiardi also hopes to add another station in West Oahu, perhaps near Kapolei Commons.
Ultimately, the mayor has said he hopes rail trains one day will reach his alma mater, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the original end of the line when rail was first envisioned before it was plagued by years of delays and cost overruns.—RELATED :
The final six stations and three miles of overhead guideway will differ from the 13 stations that are already open or opening soon.
The first two phases were built as mile-long segments of track between stations that required precast segments made on Oahu that had to be installed by custom-made gantries that had to be shipped in.
The gantries lowered each segment of guideway girders into place and linked them together “like a zipper, ” Kahikina said.
The technology and techniques were “more efficient for long spans, ” she said. “Now it doesn’t make sense.”
The future six stations will be only 1 /2 mile apart, making the work possible for local subcontractors using more traditional horizontal I-beam supports installed by cranes that are already on island, she said.
The result will look similar to what drivers already see below the H-1 Freeway, according to Kahikina.
“Local contractors can do this work, ” she said. “It’s more efficient. It’s cheaper.”
Using more traditional I-beam construction techniques are expected to save $200 million.
Stations opening soon In October, four more stations are scheduled to open, including some that are expected to be the busiest : outside of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Lagoon Drive and at the Middle Street Transit Center.
The airport station was built between the interisland and overseas parking structures.
Most of the rail system’s overhead guideway stands 30 feet above street level. But the guideway route to the airport will be different in significant ways. It runs parallel to the H-1 Freeway’s long right-turn entrance into the airport from the Ewa direction, just on the edge of the airport tarmac.
The guideway had to be built 70 feet above the tarmac to ensure clearance for commercial jet tails.
“It’s a tight ‘S curve’ to avoid the tarmac, ” Kahikina said. “The tallest tails have to fit under the guideway.”
Then the elevation drops to just 15 feet to allow trains to run below the airport’s flight path, she explained.
She expects “trial running ” of the airport and other three stations, trains and guideways to begin in July.
Then, passenger service for the second leg from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam into the Middle Street Transit Center station has been scheduled to begin Oct. 1.
“It’s a big year for us, ” Kahikina said.
But before then, beginning July 15, HART also plans an emergency drill at the airport station involving all Honolulu first-responder agencies, the state Department of Law Enforcement and the federal Transportation Security Administration, similar to HART’s original drill at the East Kapolei station that simulated a derailment, a fatality and injuries.
Kahikina and Vance Tsuda, HART’s project director, declined to detail the upcoming airport emergency scenario because first responders have to be prepared for any contingency, they said.
The final three-mile, six-station leg then begins in Kalihi and runs through the planned Honolulu Community College, Iwilei, Chinatown and downtown stations before ending at the Civic Center station.
It’s scheduled to open in 2031 and will “have a different look and feel, ” Tsuda said. The remaining stations also will be cheaper to maintain, he said.
The original stations are covered by a tensile fabric canopy designed to represent the sails of the Hokule ‘a voyaging canoe. But “they require special lifts and safety equipment to clean and maintain, ” Tsuda said.
Instead, covering the last six stations with “more of a typical metal-type roofing ” will result in “a tremendous cost savings.”
HART said the exact maintenance savings would be up to the city Department of Transportation Services, which will take over responsibility for operating the last two segments of the Skyline system.
Accessibility concerns Potential Chinatown passengers already have complained about the absence of escalators that will force them to use elevators or stairs to get to and from trains.
Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, 74, president of the Chinatown Merchants Association, sometimes uses a motorized scooter and worries about senior citizens like her getting trapped in the station during a power blackout.
She said it’ll be difficult for her and others her age to navigate the station’s stairs.
“I really think that it’s not well planned, ” she said. “Just in case of emergency, we want the station to accommodate ADA (the Americans with Disabilities Act ). Places like Singapore plans for seniors.”
The Kalihi, Kapalama, Iwilei and Chinatown stations each will have stairs and two elevators on the mauka and makai ends, with four in the Civic Center station and six in the downtown station because they’re expected to have more riders getting on and off the system.
Kahikina acknowledged that elevators could be crowded during morning and afternoon commutes.
For senior citizens and people with disabilities shopping in Chinatown who are uncomfortable navigating stairs, Kahikina said they shouldn’t have to wait for elevators during most of the day.
“The argument is it’s going to be packed, but only at rush hour, not necessarily for the grocery shoppers, ” she said.
Kahikina understands the concerns about the elimination of escalators for the last six stations. But she also continues to look for ways to save money to keep the city’s rail construction moving following years of chilled relations between the city and FTA, which had withheld $744 million in federal funding since 2017 as the rail budget ballooned.
With Blangiardi’s suggestion to truncate the route and bring costs down, an initial round of $125 million in federal funds finally arrived last year and relations warmed.
Behind the scenes, HART also has saved $5 million by allowing Tutor Perini Corp. to use a floor and a half of its space inside the Ali ‘i Place office tower.
“We had to bring the costs down, ” Kahikina reiterated.—Workshop A neighborhood design workshop for Skyline’s Holau (Chinatown ) Station with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation and contractor Tutor Perini Corp.—When : June 26, 6 to 8 :30 p.m.—Where : Princess Ruth Ke ‘elikolani Middle School, 1302 Queen Emma St.
For more info and to submit comments, visit or email info @honolulutransit.org.