The group Stop Rail Now and former Gov. Ben Cayetano today said Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann is misleading the public about whether the city's $3.7 billion elevated commuter rail will qualify for federal aid.

The city is counting on $700 million to $948 million (in 2006 dollars) in federal money to help pay for the project, which would link East Kapolei to Ala Moana. However, Honolulu isn't expected to find out for sure how much federal funding it will get until 2011.

Meanwhile, the city plans to start construction on the East Kapolei to Waipahu segment in December 2009. Hannemann and other city officials have said they are confident Honolulu will get the money it needs based on conversations with Federal Transit Administration and congressional officials. That includes U.S. House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat, who during a March visit, said Honolulu can count on about $900 million in federal money to go toward the $3.7 billion rail system.

However, officially, FTA officials have been noncommittal. Rail opponents yesterday jumped on a recent e-mail from an FTA official stating that its too early to tell whether Honolulu will get federal funds.

"It is far too early to tell whether Honolulu's proposed rail project will receive New Starts funding," wrote FTA spokesman Paul Griffo, in an Oct. 7 e-mail to someone associated with Stop Rail Now. "The project hasn't yet been accepted into the New Starts Program."

Cayetano yesterday said Hannemann has wrongly been giving residents the impression that federal funds were assured.

"That there is no guarantee of federal funding is just one of many facts about Mayor Hannemann's rail transit proposal that he has been less than truthful about," Cayetano said. "Mayor Hannemann's public relations program for his rail system has been a colossal distortion and manipulation of facts. In my 28 years in public office, I have never seen anything like it."

The city has argued that a faster timetable will help reduce costs while allowing limited service to launch in late 2012.