Feds Cancel Baltimore-to-DC High-Speed Rail Project

The federal government announced plans to kill a proposed Baltimore-to-D.C. high-speed rail line, citing concerns about potential disruptions and “significant, unresolvable impacts to federal agencies and federal property” along the proposed route. “The Federal Railroad Administration announced that it will end its ‘involvement in the environmental review process,’ putting up a roadblock that prevents the project from proceeding.”

As Jacob Baumgart explains in Patch, “The privately operated train was expected to zip by each site, traveling at 311 mph and whisking passengers between Washington and Charm City in 15 minutes with an intermediate stop underneath Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.” The project was slated to expand with connections to New York City, Delaware, Philadelphia, and Newark.

Northeast Maglev, the company that planned to build and operate the line, said the decision to cancel the project is a “missed opportunity of a generation to deploy the fastest and safest ground transportation system in the world.” In a statement, the company added, “The SCMAGLEV would have resulted in over $6 billion in private investment, created more than 160,000 jobs, and replaced 16 million car trips. With cars being the largest source of pollution in Maryland, significant air quality benefits would have been realized,” pointing out that Washington, D.C. was recently named the nation’s most congested metro area.