HONOLULU -- The city released maps on Thursday of about 60 possible transit stations and different routes for a possible rail transit system for Oahu.

The many possible alignments are shown on five different maps of a transit line that begins in Kapolei and ends at the University of Hawaii.

The Honolulu City Council will decide at the end of this year whether it will support a rail transit system, and exactly where it wants the system to go. The maps will be taken out to the public and modified before final alternatives are presented to the council for its consideration in November.

"It is really a starting point for our analysis and for discussions. Generally we have tried to identify the number of stations that make the most sense and approximately where they would be. But, we are still quite a ways away from them being set in concrete," said Mark Scheibe, of Parsons Brinckerhoff, the company hired to work on the transit project.

If the council approves a transit system, the first section is expected to be completed in 2012.