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Council Chairman Ernie Martin says officials need to consider modifying the 20-mile project should costs continue to increase.

The Honolulu City Council chairman questions whether new leadership is necessary to bail out the city’s over-budget and behind-schedule rail project.

Top transit officials want a single agency to oversee rail, TheBus and TheHandi-Van, saying it will lead to greater efficiency.

Mayor, City Council Chairman agree they want more accountability on rail project — but differ on how hard a line to draw.

The City Council’s budget committee will weigh extending a half-percent tax Wednesday — and whether to cap rail funding in favor of other priorities.

Taxpayers are counting on the City Council to rein in rail’s ever-expanding price tag. And Hawaii longliners are benefitting from a sketchy rules change.

Officials continue to see costs mushroom as they build the 20-mile commuter rail line and fight to increase taxes to pay for it.

The rail agency needs to issue debt to help with an impending cash flow problem, but there’s still a quandary surrounding several rail votes that were made under questionable circumstances.

A Sept. 14 letter from HART supplied six pages of detail relative to progress on the rail project, but the mayor’s reply makes it clear he wants more.

A letter sent by top HART officials outlines some of the fiscal challenges facing Honolulu’s much beleaguered $6 billion transit project.