HONOLULU -- The city's draft environmental impact statement for its rail transit project released on Thursday said the cost of building a line from Kapolei to Ala Moana via Salt Lake would be $3.9 billion -- about $200 million more than preliminary estimates.

If you adjust the cost for inflation, the cost would be nearly $5 billion.

"It really is an alarm bell. We just can't afford this system. This is final proof," Stop Rail Now co-founder Dennis Callan said.

The report claimed rail transit would reduce traffic congestion by about 22 percent to 24 percent on Oahu. It is a figure that University of Hawaii engineering professor and former mayoral candidate Panos Prevedouros said is overly optimistic.

"No city has ever experienced anything over 10 percent reduction in traffic thanks to a rail system," Prevedouros said.

The city says it would cost $63 million a year to operate a rail line that went through Salt Lake, but as much as $96 million a year if the line went through both Salt Lake and by the airport.

The draft EIS said anywhere from 186 to 212 properties would have to be condemned to make way for the transit project, but most of them would lose only a part of their property. There would be 35 properties fully condemned and purchased by the city. That means home and business owners would be paid for their lots.

Hannemann's election opponent said the city has improperly delayed releasing this report until days before the election in which transit is on the ballot.

"Why are we seeing bits and pieces? I think the public deserves to see the draft EIS. We paid for it. It's public money. It's a public document. We should have gotten it yesterday," mayoral candidate Ann Kobayashi said. "I just don't know what the delay is, and it's not fair to the taxpayers and residents of our city."

Yoshioka said federal transit officials approved release of the report Wednesday and in less than 24 hours.

"We have already put out the executive summary of the draft EIS today and we're going to get an online version of the document by this weekend. We think that's pretty good time," he said.