Enthusiasm, opposition grow for 300 mph train

Opponents of a proposal to build a high-speed train line that could make the trip between Washington and Baltimore in 15 minutes are asking state and federal officials to kill the project.

Northeast Maglev, the Washington-based company behind the project, says the 40-mile “superconducting magnetic levitation train system,” commonly called maglev, would be the first leg of a line between Washington and New York — a trip that could be done in an hour.

Proponents say the project would ease travel in the congested Interstate 95 corridor, but many residents are concerned about the environmental impact and the homes that would be taken to make way for the line.

And, with limited public funding available for transportation projects, opponents say, any taxpayer money that would be used for the maglev would be better spent improving the existing rail infrastructure.

“We don’t believe it is economically viable. We don’t see the ridership. We don’t see the revenue,” said Dennis Brady, a Bowie, Maryland, resident who has organized a grass-roots group against the project.

“We are concerned that they will end up coming to the state and the feds for subsidies and it will be a pocketbook issue for taxpayers,” Brady said.

Supporters counter that the Maryland maglev project, estimated to cost $10 billion to $12 billion, will create jobs, spur economic development and provide a fast, green and innovative “transportation solution” using a proven technology.

In Japan, powerful magnetic forces lift and propel trains 4 inches above a U-shaped guideway at speeds up to 375 mph.

“It is going to be three times as fast as anything we have now,” said Wayne Rogers, chief executive of Northeast Maglev. The train would travel at 311 mph, he said.

Amtrak’s fastest service, the Acela Express, makes the trip from Washington to Baltimore in 32 minutes, and to New York’s Penn Station in just under three hours. Acela trains run at speeds up to 137 mph, but more than half of Amtrak trains operate at top speeds of 100 mph.

Known as the world’s fastest train, the maglev is faster than Japan’s famous bullet trains, which travel at about 200 mph, and some of Europe’s high-speed trains that travel at up to 186 mph.

The Federal Railroad Administration studied a German version of the maglev technology in the early 2000s. Interest in the project waned as the region — and country — braced for the economic recession, but picked up again with the success of the Japanese system.

Backers tout the Maryland project as “transformational” for American travelers who often face delays on the country’s aging rails, gridlocked roads, and in outdated airports. The Northeast Corridor, the country’s busiest rail network, would benefit from additional capacity, they say.

The project has the backing of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and the state has received a $28 million federal grant to cover impact studies. If things go as planned, construction could begin as soon as 2019, with service starting in 2027, officials said.

But critics aren’t convinced the system is needed or economically feasible.

Some residents and elected officials of communities in the proposed path of the line are concerned about the homes and businesses that would be displaced through eminent domain. They also contend the service would target the “elite business traveler” and be out of reach of most citizens, with high ticket prices and limited access to stations.