Maryland's Purple Line rail route on track to open in 2022

Despite some legal challenges, Maryland's Purple Line light-rail route still is slated to open in 2022, The Washington Post reported last week.

The line was scheduled to begin serving riders in March 2022, but state officials expect it to open sometime later in the year, according to the newspaper. 

Maryland and its contractor are reworking the construction schedule due to the court battles over the project. One legal challenge pertained to the project's environmental impacts.

State officials expect to have a better grasp of the project's actual timeline in a couple of months, The Post reported.

In August 2017, the state broke ground on the 16.2-mile Purple Line. The groundbreaking ceremony coincided with the signing of a $900 million funding agreement with the Federal Transit Administration.

The total project is slated to cost more than $2 billion.