The City Council yesterday voted unanimously to put the issue of whether to build a commuter rail line on the November ballot.

The 9-0 vote was the first of three needed to adopt the measure, which could be vetoed by Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

Still yesterday's vote signaled growing support for placing the rail issue before the electorate. As recently as last week, four council members said they did not support the ballot resolution, which was introduced by council member Charles Djou.

"My view is let's get this over with," said council member Todd Apo, who favors the rail project and said last week he was opposed to Djou's resolution. "Let's not let this linger out there."

Apo added, "I think both sides have said let's have the vote, whichever way it comes out, that's the direction we're going to go."

Planning for the 20-mile, elevated commuter rail project is well under way, and Hannemann hopes to start construction in late 2009 or early 2010. The project is expected to cost an inflation-adjusted $5 billion and take nearly a decade to complete.

Hannemann declined comment yesterday on the council's vote. He has opposed a separate attempt aimed at forcing an anti-rail ordinance on the November ballot.

Stop Rail Now, a nonprofit, has collected 40,000 signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. But last week the city clerk said Stop Rail Now was too late to make the November election. That's when Djou introduced his resolution as an alternative route to get the issue before voters.

"The best way to bring a legitimate democratic closure to this rail debate is a vote of the people," said Djou, who opposes the project.

Hannemann could kill the council's ballot resolution via a veto, which, in this case, cannot be overridden. Hannemann has also said he is confident voters would approve the rail project if it was on the ballot.

Council member Gary Okino, who favors the rail project, said yesterday he thinks momentum is building for putting it on the ballot.

"I sense that there is a willingness to put it up for some kind of vote in November," Okino said. "Its kind of attractive the way this thing (Djou's resolution) is worded because it will settle the issue."

Djou's proposed amendment to the city charter states that the city shall "establish a steel wheel on steel rail transit system." A vote against the measure would not prevent the city from proceeding, though politically, it could be difficult to build a project rejected by voters.

Djou's amendment faces a tight timetable if it is to pass the city's legislative process by an Aug. 31 deadline that would allow the issue to be placed on the November ballot.

Calls for a vote come amid an increasingly contentious debate on the merits of the train, which would be the largest public-works project in state history. Project proponents contend the train is needed to accommodate continued West O'ahu development. Opponents claim the train is too costly.

Apo said he'll propose combining Djou's charter amendment with a separate charter amendment that would authorize the creation of a transit authority. The proposed transit authority would oversee design, construction and operation of the commuter rail, which would link East Kapolei to Ala Moana.

Council members remain at odds over how much autonomy to give the new agency. Pairing the two transit-related charter amendments together could bolster the chances they end up on the November ballot, Okino and Apo said.

"At this point combining them into one question makes sense," Apo said.

A hearing on those charter amendments is scheduled for the council's Executive Matters Committee meeting on Wednesday.

Alicia Maluafiti, a spokeswoman for pro-rail advocacy group Support Rail Transit, said a public vote on rail is unnecessary.

"At some point we need to trust the experts, and four of five experts chose steel-on-steel technology," she said, referring to a city council-appointed panel that in February recommended Hono-lulu buy steel-wheeled trains.

Dennis Callan, co-chairman of Stop Rail Now, said Djou's charter amendment would not prevent the city from proceeding with plans to build the train.

"That would do nothing to stop the mayor, while ours is an ordinance with teeth in it," he said. "When the public approves our ordinance, it will absolutely stop the mayor."

Stop Rail Now's proposed ordinance reads: "Honolulu mass transit shall not include trains or rail."

Effort to force a vote on rail were bolstered recently when Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona called on the City Council to put the issue on the general election ballot.

"I applaud the City Council for taking the first step toward a public vote on the proposed rail transit plan," Aiona said yesterday in an e-mail to The Advertiser. "The people of O'ahu should be allowed to decide whether the rail plan is the right investment of taxpayer money."