In the latest verbal salvo over the city's planned transit system, Mayor Mufi Hannemann said yesterday he believes Gov. Linda Lingle opposes a rail system despite her insistence to the contrary.

“;Every step along the way, she has been presenting roadblocks,”; Hannemann charged at a news conference.

Lingle's criticisms about the city's proposed elevated rail system would be OK if they were “;substantive,”; said Hannemann, who returned recently from talking with federal transportation officials in Washington, D.C.

“;They all believe we have a good project,”; he said. “;We have not seen or heard any show stoppers.”;

Hannemann's administration said the environmental impact statement for the $5.5 billion project between Kapolei and Ala Moana is 99 percent complete.

The mayor said he hopes Lingle will sign off on the EIS once she receives it.

At a Jan. 18 news conference, Lingle said she thinks Hannemann needs to take another look at the financing plan for rail because federal transit officials were wary of any plan that “;takes so much money from the bus system that it degrades its existing service.”;

But Hannemann said bus service would be enhanced by the system and that the city's financial plan has a $1.3 billion contingency fund that the bus system could tap.

He said lowering the rail system to ground level in parts of Honolulu, as some have proposed, would require the city to start over.

Hannemann said a year in delays for rail would cost the city $200 million and hold back jobs needed in a slumping economy.

The mayor also criticized Lingle for leaving any mention of rail out her State of the State address Monday.

He said while Lingle endorsed various measures in a construction industry task force report, she left out its No. 1 priority: the development of a rail system.

Lingle's spokesman, Russell Pang, said the governor supports a rail system and has not seen the task force report.

Pang said Lingle is worried about the long-term cost of a rail system, in light of the recession, and has been listening to the points made by proponents of a hybrid system that would run at ground level in certain areas.

“;She believes they have some valid concerns that we need to look into,”; Pang said.

Once the federal government gives the final environmental impact statement to Lingle, the public has 30 days to comment on it before she can sign it. Her approval is required on the document before construction can proceed.