UPPER MARLBORO, MD—Prince George's County has reached an agreement in principle with the State of Maryland to contribute $20 million in additional funding for the development of the Purple Line.

Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker III stated on Friday that negotiations with the State of Maryland resulted in the preliminary agreement. The county had previously committed $100 million in funding for the Purple Line project.

“Prince George's County has agreed in concept with the State of Maryland to move the Purple Line forward. We have agreed to increase our contribution by $20 million in exchange for construction of the Purple Line starting in Prince George's County,” County Executive Baker says. “We also have agreed with the state that the primary command center will be located in the county.”

The Purple Line is a proposed 16-mile light rail line that will extend from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George's County, MD. The light rail line will provide a direct connection to the Metro Red, Green and Orange lines. The Purple Line when completed, is expected to move more than 60,000 riders each day and will connect to MARC, Amtrak, and local bus services. Transit officials expect the Purple Line will provide commutation connections to the University of Maryland and its research center, New Carrollton, Bethesda and Silver Spring.

On June 25, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced that he directed the Maryland Department of Transportation to move forward with a more cost-effective and streamlined version of the Purple Line that will connect Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George's County. Under this scaled back version of the project, the state share in the Purple Line will be only $168 million—a fraction of the original proposal, which would have cost the state approximately $700 million.

MDOT has not established a new cost for the now streamlined Purple Line. Prior to the state funding cut, previous estimates put the total cost of the project at $2.37 billion, with $900 million in federal funding and between $500 million to $900 million in private sector investment.