City Council members voted yesterday for the first time to make rail the preferred mode for a new mass transit system and promised to present five possible alignments to the public for hearings in coming weeks.

"It's a very important step in the process," an upbeat Mayor Mufi Hannemann said immediately after a four-hour Transportation Committee hearing in which members approved a bill that designates rail as "the best selection for the long-term needs and demands of our growing island population."

"They're on the record now saying that they will make a final decision on the rail and the route by the end of this year," Hannemann said.

The decision — which is subject to public hearings, another committee vote and approval by the full council — increases the city's chance of obtaining millions of dollars in federal money to continue planning the transit system that could become operational by 2012, officials said.

"This at least will give us a chance to go out for public hearings with a specific proposal to show to the community," committee member Gary Okino said.

However, the council's last-minute decision to revive two possible rail alignments already rejected by the city and to add a third of its own making — running from Kapolei to Iwilei — could slow the process of making a final decision by the end of the year.

"We're moving forward, but I think they are making it a lot more complicated than it should be," Hannemann said. "I'd prefer that they choose between the two routes that we offered them."

The administration this week proposed the council choose between two proposed routes: one a 20-mile, $3.6 billion alignment running from east Kapolei to Ala Moana and the other a 28-mile, $4.6 billion alternative from urban Kapolei to Manoa.

The two other alignments not chosen earlier by the city, including one that would extend to Waikiki, ranged in cost from $4.7 billion to $5.5 billion, said Toru Hamayasu, the city's chief transportation engineer.

Officials will try to come up with a potential cost for the fifth, City Council alternative, which was not included in the $10 million alternative analysis study conducted by the city, he said.

Yesterday's committee decision came after more than two dozen people testified in favor of endorsing a rail project, almost all of them urging the council members to build the full 28-mile alignment. Those testifying in favor of the longer, more expensive plan included U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, labor leaders, other politicians, Kapolei residents and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa chancellor.

"Building the full line now is very important," said Nancy Young, a retired schoolteacher from Kalihi. "It will cut down on the sprawl of people who have to keep moving further and further out of town and drive to their jobs."

Running the full line to Manoa will not only benefit students, but more than 7,000 faculty members and thousands of other people who visit the campus for theater and sporting events every year, said Denise Konan, the UH-Manoa chancellor.

Abercrombie urged council members to keep moving the transit process forward as quickly as possible, saying that a decision by the end of this year was vital.

"Our ability to obtain federal funding is completely dependent on decisive City Council action," he said. "The sooner the City and County of Honolulu submits the locally preferred alternative to the Federal Transit Administration, the greater the possibilities for drawing down desired federal funding."

Hannemann was especially pleased that committee members deferred action on a proposal by Councilman Charles Djou that would have required the city to enact a separate transit-oriented development ordinance before the rail project could proceed.

The proposal was designed to set rules for the city's possible partnerships with private developers in the rail corridor, but Hannemann insisted that such a move would be like "putting the cart before the horse" and said it's better to deal with developers after the rail plan is in place.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.