Rail is now a reality, and having ridden the loop from Aloha Stadium to East Kapolei twice, I found Skyline to be easily accessible, intriguing, eye-opening, and 51… as in mph we reached (the train averages 30 mph and tops out at 55 mph).
Seeing sites between Halawa and beyond UH West O`ahu from new vantage points is fascinating. Skyline is properly air conditioned, with relatively seamless stops and starts (but please- brace yourself when riding… this is public transportation, not a leisurely “It’s a Small World” Disney ride). The 45-minute roundtrip allows you to clearly watch clouds above Palehua Ridge, view Diamondhead and downtown across the horizon, peer down at myriad geometrically-wedged, small farms, and gaze at ornate church rooftops hidden from normal, ground level sightlines as you rise 40-feet above the streets while making nine stops. Skyline is the first new major, metro system in the United States since 1993. And yes, more consideration for bathrooms and additional parking, please.
Sit on the mauka side as you head out, then switch to makai for a completely different vantage point on your way back. New housing developments (like Ho`opili) meant to take advantage of Skyline are under way, with more to come. HART is happening; it’s time to get on board (albeit while still demanding accountability from those in charge). Additional housing alongside burgeoning businesses to come. Envision the transition along O`ahu’s leeward cost throughout the coming decade, with major Honolulu housing evolving, too.
Sure, many local systems (political, planning, permitting, pricing) are archaic, dysfunctional or parochial, and the project has taken too long with a perpetual lack of momentum, but four-car trains are now moving in the right direction. These are the real starts and stops consumers have been looking forward to. After years of fumbles (wheels don’t fit, pillar and pad cracks, funding follies) rail is now running. There is a light (and a train) at the end of the tunnel. Thousands will hopefully find Skyline to be convenient, affordable, time-saving, and dependable. Of course there’ll be headaches aplenty during upcoming construction in Kalihi and downtown.
It took 37-years to build H-3 and it’ll take five-years now to finally build Aloha Stadium #2, but today we have a usable, state-of-the-art choo-choo that should provide possibilities for many who heretofore might not have had ample options. We now own the country’s first driverless, metro rail transit system.
Think about it…