Metro says rail lines delayed until 2015

Riders will wait a while longer for two new light rail lines, Houston transit officials acknowledged Wednesday, as unexpected repair work and ongoing problems have made a 2014 opening impossible.

Less than two months ago, Metropolitan Transit Authority officials said the agency's two new lines would open in December - just under the wire of the 2014 opening they pledged when work started in 2011.

Since then, however, continuing problems with axle counters along the route - the counters are part of the system that tracks trains along the line - and a downtown construction error that severed a chilled water line have made it impossible to open the lines this year.

The line break occurred under Metro's new section of track south of Minute Maid Park. As a result, an entire section of the roadway, rails and communications system along the new rail lines had to be replaced.

The segment serves both the Green Line that runs from downtown along Harrisburg and the Purple Line which connects downtown to the Palm Center Transit Center south of the University of Houston. The replacement will delay testing of the lines - a requirement before service can start.

"We're working to get a firm idea of what timeline we're on," Metro CEO Tom Lambert said Wednesday.

He said officials plan to present a revised schedule to Metro's board Sept. 25.