The city will have its first public hearing on the draft environmental impact statement for a planned commuter train on Dec. 6 from 9 to 11 a.m. at Kapolei Hale, 1000 Uluohia St.

That's the first of five planned meetings. The other meeting dates, times and locations are:

The city plans to start work on the $4.3 billion elevated commuter rail line from East Kapolei to Ala Moana in late 2009. Limited service between West Loch and Waipahu would start in late 2013, and full service to Ala Moana would begin by the end of 2018.

Residents and others concerned about the city's planned elevated commuter rail have until Jan. 7 to provide comments about the project's environmental effects.

That's when the 45-day public comment period for the project's draft environmental impact statement will end. An electronic version of the 400-plus-page document is available at www.honolulutransit.org.

The city expects the final environmental impact statement to be released next summer and construction to begin in December 2009.