The federal government’s response to a lawsuit challenging the $5.3 billion Honolulu rail project “reinforces” the plaintiffs’ confidence about their ability to stop the project, plaintiff Randy Roth said in an email. 

“We’ve been expecting to win this case, but the weakness of this Answer reinforces our belief,” Roth wrote in an email. “In fact, we are now thinking about asking the judge to tell the defendants to hold off on all work on the rail system until the case has been finally resolved.”

The federal response came late Friday night, Roth said. Read more about the crux of the case in our earlier coverage: “Last-Ditch Rail Fight Hinges on Landmark Environmental Law.”