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Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and other city officials met in Washington D.C. with Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff Friday for a discussion about Honolulu’s multibillion dollar rail transit project.

“It was incredibly productive,” Carlisle said via phone from his hotel. “It was very encouraging. Peter Rogoff has always been a supporter of the rail program and he’s still committed.”

Rogoff didn’t return calls requesting comment about the meeting, but Carlisle said he took down direct quotes from the media-shy administrator to share on his behalf.

“Let me tell you exactly what he said,” Carlisle said. “He said he is, quote, anxiously looking forward to moving our rail project along and our interest in it hasn’t changed at all, endquote.”

Carlisle said the trip was planned by City Council Chairman Todd Apo as a way to demonstrate continuity in the city’s support for rail, amid leadership changes. Apo joined Carlisle in meeting with Rogoff, as did City Councilmember Ikaika Anderson and Toru Hamayasu, chief of the city’s transportation division. Apo said even though he’s resigning from the council to take another job in November, it made sense for him to go.

“Obviously, I’ve had an integral part in the project, including having met with Administrator Rogoff before,” Apo said earlier this week. “This is part of showing the continuum of the city effort, just helping make that bridge.”

Carlisle said federal transit officials took note of how quickly he made his way to Washington D.C. after being sworn into office. Carlisle took the oath of office late Monday afternoon and boarded an airplane for Washington on Wednesday.

“I think they were particularly impressed that I ended up there two days after I was sworn in,” Carlisle said. “They know how committed I am, simply because I was willing to do that. I can’t emphasize enough that a huge part of this effort was Ikaika Anderson and Todd Apo.”

Carlisle said federal officials reiterated their funding commitment to Honolulu.

“This is coming from Barack Obama,” Carlisle said. “We already know there’s $55 million in the 2011 budget. There is no reason to believe this will be changed.”

Honolulu is counting on about $1.55 billion in total federal backing.

City officials meet monthly with FTA officials — typically in Honolulu offices — on the project’s progress. Carlisle said he’s confident in the pace it’s moving forward, but acknowledges the meticulousness with which the city will have to proceed.

“On (a federal) level, they are all committed to this project,” Carlisle said. “But it’s very clear that they’re looking carefully at the project because of our history and that’s been true since the get-go.”

Honolulu has a decades-long history of rail projects that are started then ultimately halted before construction. While transit planners continue to prepare for construction, the project is stalled until the governor accepts the final environmental impact statement, an FTA-approved document detailing the rail plan. It appears unlikely Gov. Linda Lingle will accept the document before she leaves office.

Carlisle said he’s made his opinion on rail clear since he began campaigning. In D.C., he said, he had the opportunity to show that Honolulu officials are aligned in their support of the rail project.

“You’ve got the legislative branch of government in the City Council, the executive branch with me, the mayor, and the operations side of things with Toru (Hamayasu),” Carlisle said. “We’re all 100 percent in accord that this needs to be done and it needs to be done as soon as possible.”

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