Background

The Purple Line Project requires the Concessionaire to finance, develop, design, construct, equip and supply light rail vehicles for, and operate and maintain, a 16.2-mile (26-km) light rail transit line that runs from Bethesda to New Carrollton, extending east-west inside the Capital Beltway within the Maryland suburbs north of Washington, DC. There will be 21 stations and 28 light rail vehicles on the new line.
This new line will provide connections to several existing transit providers, such as the Washington Metropolitan Metrorail System and Amtrack’s Northeast Corridor regional system. It improves mobility to major economic and job centers: Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma/Langley Park, College Park, New Carrollton as well as the University of Maryland.
The procuring parties are the Maryland Department of Transportation (“MDOT”) and the Maryland Transit Administration (“MTA”) (together, the Owner). The contractor is Maryland Transit Solutions (“MTS”), a joint venture between Dragados USA and OHLA USA.

Stage

Under Construction

ESG/SDG Key Facts

The Project Company coordinated with federal and state regulatory agencies to develop and implement a project-wide compensatory mitigation strategy to offset impacts to wetlands and aquatic resources. During design and construction, Purple Line will strive to avoid long-term water quality and quantity impacts to aquatic biota by minimizing the amount of new impervious surfaces associated with the transit way, yard, and maintenance facility. With the previous Design-Build Contractor, over $188 million of design and construction had been undertaken by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (“DBE”). The new Design-Build (“DB”) Contract will continue with these requirements, with an expected target of more than $450 million additional DBE participation ($325 million committed as of end of August 2024).
The Purple Line Project is estimated to take 17,000 cars off the road daily, saving approximately 1m gallons of petrol over 20 years. It will provide key mobility benefits (including trip time savings of between 20-30 minutes) and complete the Bethesda – Silver Spring bike /pedestrian trail. The Project Company is aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory.1 The Project Company performed initial desktop carbon emissions benchmarking; and will develop plans to reduce carbon emissions as the Project evolves.

SDG Achievements and Roadmap

SDG 13 (Climate Action) – The Project Company is leading the effort to obtain Leadership in Environmental and Design (“LEED”) Silver Certification for the Operations & Maintenance (“O&M”) Facility. The company also completed a carbon emissions benchmarking exercise and will begin planning carbon reduction initiatives for future implementation.

SDG 15 (Life on Land) – The Project is working very closely with regional parks authorities and environmental agencies, both to minimize impacts and contribute to improvements in local parks.